


The War of Transformation

by Serriya (Keolah)



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Chaos, Drama, Elves, Gen, Humanoid Animals, Violence, War, lost colony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 1997-09-01
Updated: 2003-06-16
Packaged: 2017-11-13 17:04:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 24,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/505760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harmony Kimchild is a Changer, with the power of transformation. Lezaria will never be the same again, as she is determined to change the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Brown Stone

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter of this was rewritten as [Key to Harmony](http://archiveofourown.org/works/505721).

"Harmony," her aunt began gently, "there is something I need to tell you. Your father was travelling through the Pass of Lamentation. He was attacked by wild men."

Harmony, concerned, clenched the textured key. "Will he be all right? Where is he now?"

"I'm sorry, Harmony. The Wild Man chieftain took his sword."

The girl's eyes were bright with tears. "He didn't -- kill him -- did he?"

Her aunt nodded gravely. "Trinity is dead."

"No," sobbed Harmony. "It can't be. You must be mistaken. My father is young and strong yet. He can't die."

Trying to comfort her, her aunt held her close. "You'll be all right in time, dear. You aren't alone. You still have me, and your other aunts, uncles, cousins. We'll take care of you until you're grown."

"Let me be, auntie," Harmony wrenched out of her aunt's embrace. "I want to be alone. Let me be."

Reluctantly, her aunt left the room.

"I have always been alone, and I will always be alone," murmured Harmony, tears streaming down her face.

* * *

It was six years later, a lifetime for a child, as Harmony recalled that day while fingering the peculiar runed key. The runed key now hung on a string around her neck, as something of a good luck charm and an oblique reminder of her father.

"I have always been alone, and I will always be alone," murmured Harmony introspectively. 

"Not quite." 

Harmony spun around to see who had spoken. "Swamp?" 

The albino man approached her. "Yes, cousin." 

"Why are you here?" 

"I got word from King Megrez himself today," commented her cousin. "He wants me to test all my relatives for magic. Then he wants me and any relatives that test strongly for magic to go to Jaston and work with his army. They've just declared war against the Mitten Alliance, you know." 

"And what does this have to do with me?" wondered Harmony. 

"I'd really like to know if you have magic, myself. And that has nothing to do with King Megrez or any of his ilk." 

"Swamp, I--" 

"Don't argue, now, Harmony. You're not getting out of this. No excuses this time. We're going to Sheenvale." 

"I am not going to Sheenvale!" exploded the girl. 

"Aren't you the least bit curious? Don't you want to know if you have magic?" 

"I don't care," grated Harmony. "I'm not going anywhere with you, and that's final." 

"Do you know what my magic is?" asked Swamp lightly. 

"No." 

Swamp smiled broadly. "I am the Enchanter, little cousin. Likely the only person ever to live on this world to have this power. Necromancy is rare enough, but Enchantment has never been seen before, and will probably never be seen again in all the History of Lezaria." 

"Enchantment," grumbled Harmony. "Speak in normal terms, Swamp." 

"I don't think so," Swamp hissed. "Not unless you agree to go with me to Sheenvale." 

Harmony sighed. "I don't want to go to Sheenvale. Not now, anyway. And especially not with you. But--" she broke off. 

"Say you'll go." 

"I'll go." 

"Good," Swamp nodded. He turned and started walking away. 

"Wait! Tell me, what does your magic do?" 

"I'll tell you later," her cousin smirked. 

"I take it back," squealed Harmony. "I won't go until you tell me how your magic works." 

"We leave tomorrow morning, at first light." The door-hangings slipped together behind him. 

"I hate you, Swamp," snarled the girl. "I hate you!" 

* * *

"Good morning, cousin," sneered Swamp.

"Shut up, Swamp," retorted Harmony without looking at him. "Are we going through the Pass of Lamentation or around the mountains to the west?" 

"To the west," her cousin replied coldly. 

Harmony stoically mounted her donkey, trying very hard not to think about her father. The Mountains of Sorrow were so called for good reason. Maintaining her stubborn silence, the girl steered her donkey after her cousin and followed him away from the farmstead. 

As they rode, Swamp cruelly tried to hold a conversation with her. This attempt was largely unsuccessful due to her angry taciturnity. 

"I'm your second cousin, Harmony," he insisted. "You can't ignore me." 

She brushed a lock of sandy hair out of her face and glared at him. "Just because you're my cousin doesn't mean I have to like you." 

"Yeah, you obviously don't," grunted Swamp. 

A long pause. "Why Sheenvale?" asked Harmony. 

"The Library." 

The girl looked straight ahead. This region, like most of Albrynnia, was lightly forested. Ahead, to the southwest, loomed the Mountains of Sorrow, cold blue in their silence. "Swamp, I want something understood between us." 

"What, cousin?" 

"I will not do anything just because you tell me to do it. I am my own person, young though I am, and at thirteen I am completely capable of making my own decisions!" 

Swamp snickered in contempt. "Little girl, you are a child yet. You cannot do anything on your own." 

Harmony's faced was flushed. She pinned the pale-skinned man in a hard, blue stare. "Don't talk down to me, Swamp. You can't tell me what do you." 

He sniggered and did not reply. 

* * *

They came over a hill, and through the trees could see the valley of Sheenvale nestled below them. Above the canopy of leaves stood the Library Tower. It could almost be peaceful to Harmony's heart, were it not for Swamp's presence, and the memory that her father had died trying to reach this town so long ago.

Without pausing or waiting for Harmony, Swamp led his donkey down into the valley. Sighing, the girl followed. 

They rode between walls of brick and stone until they came to the base of the tower. Dismounting, the cousins tied their donkeys to a pole and entered the door to the tower. 

"Welcome to the Library Tower in Sheenvale," greeted the Librarian somewhat nervously. "Feel free to look around. If there is something I could assist you with don't hesitate to ask." 

"Magic testing," Swamp told her simply. 

"Come right this way," the Librarian stood. She led them to a side stairway, pushed past a rotating bookshelf, and eventually came to a room with a luminous golden pillar in the center. "Do you know the procedure?" 

"Yes," replied Swamp. 

"Then step into the cylinder. Press the orange button if you need me," the Librarian skittered back through the rotating bookshelf. 

Swamp glowered at Harmony for a moment before gesturing for her to enter the pillar of light. "Go ahead, cousin." 

"I don't trust you, Swamp," the girl stated. 

Her cousin grumbled unintelligibly and stepped into the pillar himself. "Come on, Harmony," his voice echoed out of the air. 

She sighed and took a single step into the golden light and out of it again. Harmony looked around curiously, wondering briefly what manner of transportation the golden pillar might be. 

The room was clearly near the top of the tower, judging by the view from the narrow windows. Rings of bookshelves curved around in a circular pattern away from the cylinder. Staircases were barely visible among the books. Before Harmony could look at the books more closely, Swamp tugged her toward a staircase up to the next level. 

This level had a circle of stones of various colours. "What is this place, Swamp?" 

"The magic testing chamber," Swamp replied tersely. "I'll test you for the more common powers first, then work up to the rare ones." He walked to the center of the room, where there was a table with little coloured stones matching the flat ones in the ring. 

"What do I do?" asked Harmony. 

Swamp picked up a green rock. "Stand on the green disc." She complied. He handed her the stone. "Hold this." Nothing happened. "So you have no Earth Magic at all." He took the rock and replaced it on the table, returning with a blue one. "Stand on the blue disc now." They repeated the process. Still nothing happened. "No Water Magic either. Let's try Wind." 

Disc after disc, stone after stone, all indicating that Harmony had no magic at all. Fire, Lightning, Illusion, Mind, Dream, Healing, Speech, Ice, Security, Seeking, Motion. Then Swamp moved with frustration toward that section of the circle devoted to the rare powers. 

"I doubt any of these will come up, since you have no common magic, but we might as well try them just in case," Swamp commented. "Prophecy." The magenta stone flickered very faintly. "You do have some power in Prophecy, but it's so weak that it's useless. You probably inherited it from your mother. Let's try Necromancy." The black stone didn't react. "Okay, now Changing." This time, the brown changing stone glowed brightly, surprising Harmony into dropping it. 

"What the--" the girl gasped. 

Swamp hissed, retrieving the brown rock. "So, cousin, you are a Changer." 

"A what?" Harmony breathed in disbelief. Little did she know that life as she had known it had come to an end, the moment the brown stone glowed at her touch.


	2. Cat's Paw

Tembre Serra glared out over the castle courtyard where his soldiers were practicing. Soon, he would have to lead them into battle with the soldiers of the Mitten Alliance. Tembre was disgusted at the very thought. 

"Captain Serra!" called a page. 

"Yes, what is it?" grumbled Tembre. 

"His Majesty, King Megrez, wishes to speak with you in the council chamber," the page breathed. 

"Oh, very well." Sighing, Tembre climbed down from the wall and made his way to the meeting hall. 

The bearded king was speaking in a low voice with an albino and a girl wearing a runed key about her neck. Upon seeing Tembre, he turned and greeted, "Glad you could join us, Captain Serra." 

"I live but to serve," said Tembre half-heartedly. 

"You are Serra?" asked the albino. Tembre nodded tersely. "I am the Enchanter. This is Harmony the Changer." Tembre noticed that Harmony wore an iron ring on her finger. 

"We are going to conduct an experiment," the king told him. "Stand there and do not resist what Harmony is going to do." 

Terrified in his heart, Tembre closed his eyes and tried in vain to relax. He breathed deeply as he felt the first tendrils of Harmony's magic begin to work their way into the very core of his being. He felt as if he were being pulled inside out and torn apart. Shaking, Tembre murmured a prayed to whoever was listening that he not be harmed by this experiment. 

The white noise in his ears began to clear, and he heard the voice of King Megrez. "Yes, more agile. The cat was an excellent choice. No, no fur. Keep him human, mostly, but better than human." 

Finally, Tembre felt Harmony's magic ease off, become more gentle. He still felt it at work, Changing him little by little, but it was less aggressive, more tightly controlled. There were still snags and jolts of pain occassionally, though. Then the magic receded and released him from its grip. 

"I'm through, Captain Serra." 

Tembre blinked his eyes open slowly. He realised in that instant, that nothing would ever be the same again. His vision was sharp, clear, precise, as it had never been before. His hearing was acute, accurate. 

"What have you done to me?" gasped Tembre. He cast about for a reflective surface. Locating a shiny platter, he gazed into its depths and was horrified at what he saw. His ears were long and pointed, and his once-grey eyes were silver and shaped as those of a cat. The moustache which had been his pride and joy was gone. His beautiful brown skin had faded ghostly pale. In despair, Tembre dropped the platter against the floor and fled from the room. 

"Captain Serra, don't go," cried Harmony. 

"Serra, I order you to return!" shouted the king. 

But Tembre ignored them. He ducked into the side passageways of the palace, weaving his way from the guards they had sent for him. Tembre crawled through places too narrow for most adult humans to follow. 

He halted, his sensitive hearing picking up voices in the corridor he must cross. "Where could he have gone?" 

"I don't know." 

"The king will be angry if we don't find him." 

"I don't see him." 

"Maybe he went through the basement." 

"Let's go check." 

Booted feet shuffled away into the shadows. Cautiously, Tembre pulled himself out of the crawlspace. On silent feet he hurried down the hallway to a dusty closet. He pushed out of the janitorial door into the dim streets beyond. 

Catlike, Tembre Serra lurked through the back alleys of Jaston. He had to escape. Now that he had been Changed, his long-buried hatred had come to the surface. He would not tolerate his slavery any longer. Freedom would be his. 

He came to the city wall, a dark silhouette looming before him. Although the wall obscured much of his field of vision, the grey twilight sky could be seen above. How could he get out of the city? The gates were guarded, and the guards would not recognise him as he was, thus Changed. He would have to scale the wall. 

Tembre located a storage closet and grabbed a coil of hemp rope. He glared at the wall, examining it, for a moment. Then he located some tools and tied one to the end of the rope. He tried again and again, but he couldn't get any of them to hook onto the wall securely enough to prevent him from falling. 

"I must escape," whispered Tembre desperately. "I've got to get out of this prison." 

"You need to get outside?" 

Tembre spun around into a defensive stance. "Who are you?" 

"A humble vagabond," spoke a woman in the shadows. "I know a secret way out of the city." 

"Show me." 

The vagabond melted into the darkness, but Tembre's feline eyes could pick her out easily. They slinked through a labyrinth of passageways until slipping outside. Tembre didn't even notice the exact moment he stepped outside the city of Jaston. He was already running as fast as he could for the trees. 

"Wait for me," the woman called after. 

Tembre heard her words clearly through his enhanced hearing. Although he did not want to, he came to a halt and looked back. "I must escape," he called back, hoping he did not alert the guards. "Come if you will. I cannot wait for you." 

Then he turned and plunged into the forest. He hid himself in the protection of the foliage, for the first time thankful for his Changed form. But that was all. Tembre hated the monster he had been turned into.


	3. Through a Wolf's Eyes

"What happened?" demanded King Megrez. 

"I don't know," Harmony replied. 

"Well," Swamp commented, "you'll just have to Change more people. Captain Serra was successfully Changed, even if he was also mentally unstable. Perhaps it was his higher education. We should experiment next with ignorant peasants. Since they don't have lives of their own, they should also be mentally stable and obediant when Changed." 

"At least we now have an idea of how Harmony's magic works," the king admitted. He reached out and rang a bell. A servant appeared at the door to the council hall. "Bring me some peasants off the street." The servant nodded tersely and left. 

"Cousin," Swamp spoke, "fetch me some more tea while we're waiting." 

Harmony went into the kitchen, picked up a pitcher of tea, and returned to the meeting room. "Here you go, Swamp." 

King Megrez told her, "The next transformation you shall try should be to a more canine form." 

"As you wish." 

The servent returned with a peasant couple in tow. The two appeared nervous, as was expected, but they clearly didn't understand what they had inadvertantly gotten into. 

"Which one will you do first?" asked the king. 

"The woman," Harmony replied. "My name is Harmony, friend. What is your name?" 

"Rose." 

"Rose, you are going to be Changed," Harmony told her. "Do you know what that means?" 

"No." 

"Your physical shape will be magically altered." 

"I see," Rose said uncertainly. 

"Relax. Clear your mind. I will not harm you." 

Rose relaxed, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply. Harmony sent out the first questing tendrils of her magic, examining Rose's human form before starting to Change it. She confirmed the locations of the woman's organs, and set magical protection upon them, so that no matter what was happening to the surface, the internal organs would remain the same. 

Then she set the canine form in her mind, and set her magic to work on the face. Harmony formed a muzzle with a sensitive nose and sharp teeth. She then moved down in her mind to the hands and feet, and formed retractible claws. Moving along the woman's body, she made minor alterations, so that her body would carry itself differently. Then she slowly pulled her magic out of the woman. Harmony noticed that it had taken about half as long as it had with Captain Serra. 

Tentatively, the Changed woman opened her brown eyes which had been grey, and looked around. "Everything looks-different. I can't see colours anymore." 

"I will Change your husband now as well," Harmony spoke gently. "What is your name, friend?" 

"Adam." 

"Adam, I will Change you to the exact same form as your wife. Do you understand?" 

"Yes," the man replied. 

Adam closed his eyes. Harmony sent out her magic again, confirming the human male in his current form and protecting the vital organs before beginning the transformation. Then she formed a muzzle on his face and retractible claws on his hands and feet. Up and down his body she made slight changes in the muscular structure and posture. She withdrew her magic. 

Blinking, the Changed man looked around with soft, brown eyes. "Rose?" 

"I'm here, love." 

"I can't see colour either." 

"It's all right," Rose told him. "At least we have each other, if nothing else." 

Harmony sighed tearfully, turned and left the room. Once alone in her quarters, she fell to her knees and wept shamelessly until she fell asleep. 

* * *

Harmony woke as Princess Mercy entered. Mercy was King Megrez's daughter, who had quickly befriended Harmony. She was the closest thing to a sister that Harmony had ever known.

"How are the Changed ones doing?" asked Harmony. 

"Distressed," Mercy replied. "I wish there were something I could do. They were completely unprepared. But they're hanging in there." 

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing, Mercy?" 

The princess did not respond for the longest time, just sitting there silently staring off into space. Finally, she answered, "I don't think it's really my place to say. But I know that as more and more people are Changed, things will begin to get really strange." 

"Changed ones," mused Harmony. "We need a better name for them. It's as if they aren't anything in themselves anymore, just the fact that they were Changed." 

"Well," pondered Mercy, "another word for transforming is 'morph.' Perhaps we could call them 'morves'?" 

"Morves. I like that. Very well, Mercy. Morves it shall be." 

A servant opened the door to bring them breakfast. While she was in the room, both princess and Changer were silent. They started eating until the maid left the room. 

"What's that?" asked Mercy. 

"What's what?" 

"That key." 

Harmony realised that she had unconsciously been fingering the runed key in her nervousness. "Oh, this? I got it the day I heard my father was dead." 

"What material is it?" wondered Mercy, touching the key. 

"I'm not sure." 

They continued to eat for a few minutes. "Father has rounded up a group of peasants, servants, and soldiers." 

"For Changing?" sighed Harmony. 

Mercy nodded. "He wants you to try some more minor Changes still, like with Captain Serra and the peasant couple." 

"That's just as well, because I'm not ready to try major Changes yet." 

The princess shuddered. "The minor Changes are bad enough. It chills me to think what major Changes might be." 

"Don't think about it, Mercy," Harmony suggested. "I try not to. But I don't even know the extent of my powers." 

"Do you want to know?" 

Harmony nodded gravely. "Oh, yes. I want to know. More than anything else in the world." 

Mercy did not respond. She sat there quietly gazing at her half-eaten fruit until the servant came in and took the unfinished breakfast away. Once the maid was outside and safely beyond the door-hangings, however, Mercy leaped up and looked with fierce eyes straight at Harmony. 

"Get away from this place," Mercy warned. "There is nothing but corruption here. My father knows not what he asks. Run away, Harmony. Escape while you still can. That's all the advice I can give you. I pray you follow it." With that, Mercy rushed out of the room, trembling all the while.


	4. A Journey

Amanda Kimdaughter stood on a rise under Mount Shadowflame watching over her family's sheep. From her vantage point she could easily spot the merchant with his three donkeys riding up the road from Jaston. She glanced around for one of her younger cousins. Locating one, she assigned him to watch the sheep while she talked with the merchant. 

"Ho, merchant!" called Amanda. "Good evening to you." 

"A greeting to you, shepherd maiden," replied the merchant. Even from this distance, his red hair brought to mind someone from Amanda's past, and as he drew closer, his green eyes completed the image. 

"Cairn?" called Amanda incredulously. 

"In the flesh." 

"Cairn Stentorian?" 

"That would be me. And who might you be, fair maiden?" 

"Amanda. Surely you remember me." 

Cairn thought for a moment. "Certainly. You're the pretty lass who brought me breakfast once." 

"You've no idea, do you," Amanda sighed. She recalled how she had admired Cairn, idolised him. 

"No matter," Cairn smiled. "How fares your family, girl? Is your father well?" 

"He is well. What news have you from Jaston?" 

"Two of your cousins are there. Harmony and the Enchanter. Some strange magic is afoot down there." 

Amanda recalled Swamp telling her once that magic was often hereditary. "Do you know the details, Cairn?" 

"Not I, but when I left there was a roundup of streetscum and peasants. I didn't want to stick around, lest they mistake me for the former or confuse me with the latter." 

"How could anyone mistake you for a lower-class citizen?" 

Cairn gestured to his head. "The hair, m'darlin'. Red isn't very common in these parts, you know." 

"Shall we go inside? My aunt will have tea ready by this time. Would you like some tea?" 

"Aye, that I would, lass," Cairn grinned. "Lead the way." 

Amanda took the rope of one of Cairn's donkeys while he led the other two. It was a fairly steep climb up to the Kim village on the slopes of Mount Shadowflame. They turned off the stone road from Jaston onto a winding dirt road. The white sky of early autumn warned of the imminent end of summer, although the weather remained warm. 

"Auntie," called Amanda. "Have you tea ready for our guest?" 

"It's almost ready," her aunt replied. "Take his donkeys to the stable if you would, dear." 

Amanda nodded to Cairn and took his donkeys to the stable. "So where are you travelling next, Cairn? The Mitten?" 

Cairn shook his head. "Sheenvale." 

She remembered Swamp mentioning the Library in Sheenvale in connection with magic. "Really? I was thinking of maybe journeying there myself sometime. I'd really like to see that Library." 

"Truly, lass?" Cairn beamed. "Perhaps we could journey together then. I wouldn't mind some company for a change." 

Amanda sighed inwardly. She knew that Cairn could have no idea how difficult it was for her to talk with him like this, remembering that stormy morning three years ago. He had seemed so young then, but now his face was older and travel-worn. It was brutally obvious that he was ten years older than she. 

"Tea's ready!" called the sweet maternal voice of Amanda's aunt. 

But Amanda didn't hear. She remained standing at the corner of the brick stable, staring off at the yellow fields, tears falling one by one to the parched earth. 

* * *

Amanda and Cairn journeyed together in silence around the Mountains of Sorrow. Along the way they spotted a group of wild men at a distance savagely murdering a deer, but were unnoticed themselves hiding in the trees. Sickened in her heart at what she had seen, Amanda vomited. Finally, they moved on southward, giving the blood-stained grass a wild berth. 

They came down out of the mountains and descended into Sheenvale. There Amanda eagerly parted ways with Cairn. The man she had once put on a pedestal was now anathema to her. 

Alone, Amanda wandered the streets of Sheenvale. "Excuse me, sir. Could you tell me where the Library is?" 

The stranger looked at her as if she were mad. "In the Tower, of course." 

"Thank you, sir." 

It was not difficult to find the Library Tower, because it loomed over the valley like a protective hand that could just as easily crush that which it protected. Coming to the door, Amanda took a deep breath and stepped inside. 

Upon hearing her enter, the Librarian looked up at the wild-eyed woman briefly before returning to her duty of sorting books on the shelves. "Feel free to look around. Don't hesitate to ask if you need assistance." 

Somewhat scared, Amanda glanced at the nearest shelf and read the titles of some of the books. The Founding of Hledola, A Study of the Flora and Fauna of Central Albrynnia, A Description of the Sunrise Islands, Wild Men and Their Customs, the Life and Times of somebody she had never heard of. None of them sounded particularly interesting to her. She looked to the other side of the room, to the fiction section. The Kidnapping of Miranda, Taming the Wild Man, the Sea Wanderer, Riding the Forest River, Robin the Archer. 

Tempted as she was to stop and read some of the books, Amanda had more pressing matters to think about. Such as the possibility of her having magic. 

"Is this the Library in Sheenvale?" asked Amanda hastily. 

The Librarian looked at her strangely. "It is." 

"Is this the place where people get tested for magic?" 

"It is that also. Do you wish to be tested for magic?" 

Amanda cast about nervously. There was no one to help her here, no one to tell her what to do, to hold her hand. For the first time in her life, Amanda was completely alone and forced to make decisions for herself. And also for the first time, no one would condemn her for being independant. 

"Yes. I want to see if I have magic." 

"Come this way, then, daughter. I will test you personally. My apprentice can sort these." 

Resigning herself to this course of action, Amanda followed the Librarian to the very top of the Tower through a strange glowing pillar and up several flights of stairs. They came to a room with a ring of coloured stones. 

"Stand on the green disc," the Librarian told her. Amanda did as she was bid. "Hold this for a moment." Amanda took the green stone. Nothing happened. "No Earth Magic. Stand on the blue disc." 

After going through each of the common powers, Amanda tested negative for every single type of magic. The Librarian was just about resigned to give up on her, but decided to test the rare powers anyway. 

"Prophecy." No effect. "Necromancy." Nothing. "Changing." 

This time the brown stone glowed brightly, shocking Amanda with it's strength. The Librarian examined the girl with sharp eyes. 

"Three Changers in one year? Although Swamp was of the more passive branch of Changing called Enchantment. Still, three Changers, that's completely unheard of." 

"What? What do you mean?" Amanda wondered, still gazing in disbelief at the shining brown stone in her hand. 

"You're a Changer. Harmony's a Changer. Swamp belongs to a branch of Changing as well. Usually, one will only find a single Changer every hundred years or so, but in the space of less than a year three Changers have been tested here. This is a very unusual situation to say the least." 

"I don't think I understand." 

"You will in time, daughter," the Librarian took the brown stone. The moment it was no longer in contact with her, it ceased to glow. "I can show you some literature about Changers if you wish." 

"Alright," replied the girl uncertainly. 

"Come, let's leave the magic section." 

Returning to the more mundane portion of the Library, Amanda waited in a reading room as the Librarian went to search for a book. While she was there, one title caught her eye. The Truth on How We Came to This World. Curious, Amanda pulled the book out and opened it. Turning to the first page, she began to read. 

* * *

Twas long ago in the dawning of all days that Three Lights shone alone in the Void, alone bringing light to the vastness of the Abyss, and breaking the Darkness then and forevermore. For when joined were the Lights, a thousand worlds at once were born, and scattered across the vastnesses, forever separated from one another, yet forever a distinct part of one another. Each shines as the stars seen upon the summer sky, where in the silence a Song began, eternally everlasting, ceaseless and harmonious and ancient. For in the music of the universe began a World of Song, where the Song reigneth forever. This is the world we have come to know as Home. 

In the vast uninhabited realm of Songworld, people riding upon great grey birds across the Abyss soared down through the air and came crashing into the forest. Thus scattered across the realms were three distinct peoples, those of dark skin, those of fair skin, and those of olive skin. 

* * *

Amanda looked up from her reading as the Librarian approached her again. She glanced at the book Amanda was reading and snorted in derision. "Hogwash, all of it, but an interesting theory nonetheless." 

"Perhaps," shrugged Amanda. "What's that you have th--" 

Her voice was smothered out by a cloth tied rapidly over her mouth, and her hands were tied back with course ropes by some unseen hands. What was going on here? She tried to cry out, struggled a bit, but the bonds that held her were too strong, and the grip of the hands too firm. She could not escape whatever fate she was in for. If only she knew what... 

"Quiet, you. You will not be harmed if you cooperate." 

Terrified, trying desparately to keep calm if only for her own sanity than any other reason, Amanda succumbed to the hands and clenched her eyes closed. Why? she thought. What could anyone possibly want with me? 

The cloth binding her mouth was removed, and a small vial tipped into her mouth. The contents were bitter, and though she feared poison what reason remained to her told her that if they wanted to kill her they could have done so by now. But reason was not to be the victor today, as blackness engulfed her, she did not know whether or not she would wake again.


	5. The Mermaid

The sky was unusually cold, and filled with clouds, and a great wind howled across the heavens. In the distance came the quiet rumble of thunder, each time louder than before. Soon the light patter of rain began to strike the windows of the palace in Jaston. 

Harmony Kimchild stood staring out the windows, and could feel in her blood the winds of change. Something momentous was to happen soon, but she could not identify what. Cocking her head as if listening to some distant voice only she could hear, Harmony decided now was the time to act, if she was to act at all. 

She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them she found herself staring at the iron ring upon her finger, and wondered obliquely where it had come from, not remembering owning such a ring. Curious, she slipped the cold band off to examine it. It looked completely ordinary, unadorned except for miniscule runes around the inside. Frowning, Harmony slipped the circle of metal into a pouch. 

The curtains to her chamber swept open, and Swamp entered. "Come with me, cousin," he demanded. 

Harmony glared at him dubiously. "Why should I follow you, cousin?" 

She could hear Swamp cursing under his breath. "I command you to come, Harmony the Changer." 

She laughed out loud at his impudence. "When men sprout tails and pigs grow wings and fly." 

Fuming, Swamp stalked out of the chamber, nearly ripping the curtains off in getting past them. 

"Silly boy," murmured Harmony. 

She looked around, and realized that she was in the palace of Jaston, and wondered why in the world she was here, when it was close to the last place in the world she wanted to be. Frowning, she slowly came to realize that Swamp had brought her here against her will, but for what purpose she couldn't say. All she could think was to get away from here before more harm was done. And where Swamp was concerned, there was only harm to be done. 

It had taken her a while to realize the evil of her cousin, that he would do just about anything for his own personal gain, even to the harm of his family. The fact did not surprise her. She had known he was not quite right for years, and had never in her life trusted him. However, that he would stoop to forcing his cousin to do things against her will shocked her. Never would she let another force her again, she swore. 

Harmony remembered what he had forced her to do. But the realization of this had an unexpected side effect. She also remembered how to use her particular magic. 

"Escape," she whispered, and slipped into a closet where she would not be disturbed. She knew a way out of here, if she could pull it off. 

She concentrated on her own body, and upon locating and confirming the vital organs set to protecting them. To allow an easier transformation, she also removed her excess clothing. She wouldn't need it if the form she was about to take worked. 

Human feet were too big and clumsy. Paws were more elegant, with thick pads to keep quiet when walking, and retractible claws to help climbing and defending herself. Large, pointed ears to enhance her hearing, and vertical slits in her eyes to enhance her vision. A sensitive nose to sense prey or pursuit approaching. A thick coat of fur to keep her warm and disguise her passage. A long, flexible tail for balance. 

The shock of magic was almost overwhelming, but she kept her senses clear as she performed her greatest changing to date. As she let her magic die down, she looked down at herself, and about the closet with her new feline eyes. Completely successful. She was a genius. 

Harmony slipped out of the closet in her new white-and-black striped feline body, and looked about in satisfaction. Nearly perfect, she thought. There were a few tiny details she had overlooked, but they were trivial compared to her overwhelming success. With more practice she could become the greatest Changer that had ever lived upon Albrynnia. 

With a cat-like grin of pleasure, she minced out of the chambers, down the hallway, and slipped down a well-concealed tunnel into the sewers below before any of the Jastonian guards were the wiser. 

The sewers were slowly flooding with the approaching storm, but Harmony knew to take this to her advantage. She stood on a stone ledge and concentrated on her body again, protecting the vital organs first before even initiating the magic. 

Gills along her neck to allow her to breathe underwater. Webbing between her fingers, and flat, paddle-like feet. A slick, fish-like end to her feline tail to help guide her underwater. Fins along the ridge of her spine. As she withdrew the magic, the waters were just reaching her feet. 

Taking a deep, but probably unecessary breath, she dove headfirst into the water. It was not the most pleasant water she had been in, and the fact that she had forgotten a set of clear eyelids didn't help much. Blinking for a moment, she quickly made her existing eyelids transparent, hoping such a tiny transformation was safe under the circumstances. Fortunately she suffered no ill effects from it. 

The gills worked, at least partly, but it was better than nothing she supposed. She had never needed to make gills before. Making small adjustments while she swam, she was soon breathing like a fish. 

The waters were dark and murky, and didn't taste (smell?) good at all. Nevertheless, she pressed on, knowing that somewhere the sewers reached the outside of the city, pouring their excess water into the sea below Jaston. Her only hope was to reach that and swim along the coastline away from the city, and no one would be the wiser. 

While she swam, the runed key tugging slightly against her neck, she gave thought on where she could go from here. Surely she couldn't return home, Swamp would know to look for her there. Perhaps she could take refuge in one of the smaller city-states south of the Mountains of Sorrow. The Sunrise Mountains abruptly seemed a welcome place to the evil people in Jaston who wished to use her powers to their own gain. There she hoped she would be allowed to practice her magic in peace. 

For in the realization of her magic, she also found her destiny. The power that was hers, and that could be hers, and that would be hers forever. 

A flash of light struck her night-sensitive eyes, and caused her to blink involuntarily. The result was that dank water stung her eyes, and she sputtered for a moment, nearly drowning in her attempt to regain her concentration on what was around her. She looked up, and thought she saw the sky through the murky surface of the black river. What was that flash? The following crack of thunder informed her all too well. The storm, it seemed, had arrived. 

Harmony dove deeper into the raging, angry waters that were starting to foam about her. Then she began to smell the brackish taste of saltwater before her, and knew she was nearing the ocean. A few stray fish streaked away at her passage, but otherwise her escape was unnoticed. Freedom was hers. 

She felt her gills begin to sting at the touch of the salt water, and realized that they were designed for fresh water. Concentrating deeply against the increasing itching that was rapidly turning into pain, she adjusted the gills for both fresh water and salt water. Relief came immediately, and she breathed a watery sigh of relief, small bubbles of air escaping from her mouth and rising quickly to the surface. 

Another flash of lightning lit the sky above, followed rapidly by the distorted groan of thunder when heard underwater. To Harmony's sensitive ears, it had seemed deafeningly loud and terrifyingly close. She tried not to panic, to keep swimming. It was her only hope. 

Abrupting, the open ocean opening around her, unspeakably wide and incalculably deep. To her left she sensed the dark form of the jetty that sheltered the ships docked at Jaston from the worst of the storm. She pushed herself through the seawater to the end of the jetty and came up to the surface to look around. The raging water nearly swept her against the rocks, and shivering she pulled herself out of the water. 

From her vantage point sitting on a rock at the end of the jetty, she could see the great city of Jaston that she had left behind, dark and overcast but lit by an occasional flash of lightning. All around her the sea raged and foamed, often coming near to sweeping her off the jetty. Looking down at herself in surprise, she noticed that her hair was a brilliant, flowing green, rather than the rich brown she had been born with. 

Acutely aware of her vulnerable position suddenly, Harmony looked around, seeking the eyes she felt watching her. 

"Mermaid!" she heard a voice cry from the shore. Only her sensitive ears could have made it out against the pounding waves. 

"Let's catch her!" shouted another voice. She distinguished the outlines of two sailors near the beach. 

"Not in this storm, are you crazy?" yelled the first voice. 

"Maybe later, after the storm has passed," the second sailor hollared back. "I've never seen a mermaid up close!" 

And you won't get the chance either, thought Harmony as she dove back into the water. Diving as deeply as she dared, she began to swim southeast in order to skirt Jaston. Above her, the storm raged on, oblivious.


	6. Feast for a Cat

Tembre Serra felt the storm coming, somewhere deep within his new feline senses, and the rumble of thunder rolled down from the mountains to the south. The Mountains of Sorrow, as the civilized people of Albrynnia called them, brought sorrow and destruction whenever they could. 

Tembre minced through the forests south of Jaston, acutely aware of the approaching storm, and helpless to do anything to reach cover. He was an outcast, a changeling, an exile, and so he must live, rejected by the people he once had known as kin. He was a monster to them and to himself. 

He growled at his own thoughts. No, he was still human, inside. He had a human heart and a human mind, and so long as he had those he could live as human as he could no matter what his body now looked like. 

His sharp feline eyes picked up movement in the trees. Wild men, he recognized them, with their animal skin clothing. Cautiously and silent as a cat he approached them to take a closer look. For within him he felt a slowly growing need for food, and even meat would satisfy his feline belly. 

The wild men were savages, seated around a fire they somehow kept burning in the rain. Tembre saw how, they had erected a structure made of chopped wood to protect them from the rain. Their weapons were spears with tips of stone, and bows with arrows tipped with bone and arrayed with colorful feathers plucked from birds. Some wore necklaces made of teeth and claws around their necks, and many wore sandals made of wood and animal hide. Their clothing was made from the skins of dead animals. They were barbarians, thought Tembre. 

Around the fire they were roasting the flesh of slain forest creatures. Tembre identified a deer and two rabbits from their remains. The thought of consuming the flesh of what was once living, breathing animals sickened Tembre, but he held his stomach and heardened his heart. If that was the only way to live, anyone would. Suddenly the wild men didn't seem so barbaric in his eyes. 

"This is a bad storm," commented one of the wild men. 

Another, one wearing a particularly elaborate necklace, nodded. "It was good that we set up camp early. More meat, Hunter?" 

The first nodded and accepted the proffered rabbit leg, and Tembre realized then how hungry he had become in his flight from Jaston. The rain pattering through the trees had soaked him to the skin, and he would like to warm up by the fire. Throwing caution and all his racial misgivings to the wind, he approached the band of wild men. 

They immediately started chattering amongst themselves so quickly he couldn't pick it up, and began to reach for their weapons. 

"Relax, brothers, I mean you no harm," he told them, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. 

Watching him carefully, the one who appeared to be their leader approached him. "Who are you to approach our camp in this weather, city man?" 

Tembre didn't see anything he could gain by lying, but doubted the wild man chieftain would accept the truth. "I'm an exile from Jaston," he explained. 

The barbarians slowly put down their weapons and resumed eating. Their race had been born from exiles and outcasts, and it was not uncommon for people formerly of the cities to leave or be cast out and join their way of life. Tembre had heard many stories--fiction, of course--romanticizing outcasts who escaped to the wilderness and fought their way to the top to became wild man tribe leaders. 

"My name is Vridik Steelblade," he told Tembre, indicating the finely crafted sword he wore at his side which gave him his name. 

"I am Tembre Serra." 

Vridik walked over to the fire and said, "Come, sit with me." 

Tembre did as he was bidden, quietly mincing toward the warmth of the fire. If the wild men noticed his pointed ears and strange features, they paid them no mind. This fact comforted Tembre greatly and made him feel more at home. 

Vridik cut off a bit of meat and handed it to Tembre. "Eat." 

He could see immediately that this was some sort of test, as at that moment all eyes were upon him, wondering about his next move. He held the piece of deer flesh in his hands, a strange sauce dripping down his fingers. That part of him which was feline made up the decision for him, and took a bite. To his cat-like tongue it was delicious, and very different, having never tasted meat before in his life. He decided that it wasn't as bad as the "civilized" people reputed it to be, and greedily ate the entire piece and reached for more. 

The wild men accepted him as their own, clapping him on the back and declaring him their brother. Some even offered him gifts, of belts of animal skin (he learned that they called it "leather") and necklaces of fangs and claws. He accepted these graciously, and wondered at the peculiar feel of leather. It was stronger than the cotton and wool he was used to wearing. 

"What were you doing out in this storm?" asked the one previously addressed as Hunter. 

"Running," admitted Tembre. "Jastonian guards were after me." A crackle of lightning split the skies above. "Though I doubt they'd have chased me far in this weather." 

Vridik was sitting beside him, and slowly ran his fingers along Tembre's pointed right ear. "Are all city folk like this?" 

Tembre shook his head. "I was Changed." 

"You are human in form, but you walk like an animal, and your eyes are those of a cat," noted Vridik. 

"Aye, that girl in Jaston Changed me. They intended to use me, I fear, but I wouldn't let them, so I left them behind." 

"Changed?" pondered Vridik. "What does it mean? What did she do to you?" 

"Magic," Tembre told them. "She used her magic to make me what I am. And can do it to others too." 

The wild men started talking amongst themselves. "With the noses of wolves we could find animals easier," murmured one. 

"With fangs and claws we could tear apart meat better," added another. 

"With the legs of deer we could run faster." 

Tembre shut his eyes against their voices. Surely they could not think it was a good thing to be Changed! But perhaps, thinking about it more, perhaps it was. His senses were far more acute than they were before, and he was far more agile and stealthy. He would be lying if he said that the Changing had not benefited him. 

"What was the girl's name?" asked Hunter. 

Tembre thought back. "I didn't catch her last name. They called her Harmony the Changer." 

Vridik nodded. "We must find her. Changing would benefit us wild folk far more than the city folk." 

You're probably right, thought Tembre, but he didn't say it. 

"We shall head toward Jaston when this storm clears." 

Although he was apprehensive about returning the direction he had come, he didn't say anything about it. One of the wild men offered him a spare bedroll as the others got ready to sleep. 

Tembre did not get to sleep right away. He lay there for what seemed like hours pondering his new life. Upon further reflection, he concluded that it was far better than what he had before. As a captain in the Jastonian army he had been forced to fight and kill when he was revulsed by the thought of killing. But now he was tempered with feline instincts, and his feline stomach demanded meat. And now that he had had his first taste of meat, he knew that he could never live on plants again. The flavor of flesh had awakened in him a latent bloodlust, and he suddenly wondered why he had lived like he had before. 

Grinning to himself, Tembre curled up and purred as he fell asleep.


	7. Let There Be Giants

Amanda Kimdaughter slowly woke, the light of autumn dawn striking her eyes. Blinking, she started to stand, before she realized that she was chained to the wall, and the light which had woken her was a narrow shaft falling through a barred window. She was a prisoner. 

In fear, she cast about herself. She was alone in a small dungeon cell, carefully constructed of iron and stone. Sighing inwardly, she wondered what her captors intended with her. 

Hearing the rattle of keys, she turned toward the barred door. A stout guard creaked open the door and looked her over. "Well, you don't look like you can cause much harm." He walked over to her and unlocked the chains that bound her hands and feet. 

Her immediate instinct was to charge the guard and make a run for the door, but the broadsword he wore at his belt convinced her otherwise. Nodding as if in satisfaction, the guard stepped outside for a moment before returning with a plate of food. 

Amanda hadn't realized how hungry she was, and she immediately grabbed the plate of food and began to eat. "The king has need of you, girl." 

She looked up in surprise. "What king?" 

Chuckling, the guard replied, "King Hadar of Sheenvale. Foreigner?" 

Amanda nodded, not knowing anything else to do. Her only hope, she thought, was to stay alive long enough for a chance at escape. Patience was the key, and she knew how to be patient. She had been patient all her life. 

When she had finished eating, the guard took her plate and handed it to a kitchen servant, who rushed off. "Come with me, girl." 

Reluctantly, Amanda climbed to her feet and followed him out of the cell. He carefully watched her every move. Now was not the time. She could not make a break for it with him watching her like that. 

They reached the king's audience chamber, and the guard pressed down on her shoulder forcing her to kneel before the king. 

"Your Majesty, the prisoner," intoned the guard. 

The king was a young man, his grey eyes sharp and watchful. He wore no beard, but his hair was rich dark brown and curled around his ears and down to his chin. His deep purple robes were adorned with gemstones and gold, and the golden crown upon his head was adorned with emeralds. He was not a particularly tall man, but his bearing was self-assured and confident, though not quite arrogant. 

"You may go, Captain Hawke." 

The guard bowed, and left the chamber. 

"Stand, girl," spoke the king lightly. Amanda did so. "What is your name?" 

"Amanda Kimdaughter." 

The man nodded. "I am Hadar the Spark, King of Sheenvale. So named as a spark brings fire, and fire brings light." 

Amanda nodded slightly but said nothing. 

"You do understand the situation in Jaston, don't you?" 

"Not really," Amanda admitted. 

"We are at war with them. However, the war has taken an ugly turn. Jaston has begun to employ soldiers who are not quite human, or who are human but have powers no human has ever possessed before." 

"Not quite human? Powers?" Amanda stuttered. 

"One of my soldiers came back with claw marks on his arm and a story about a fierce wolf-man," Hadar frowned. "And I've also heard reports about soldiers breathing flames, or that shoot lightning from their eyes. My people cannot fight against the likes of these. Therefore I ordered that the next person who tested with strong magic be brought to me. To fight fire, with fire." 

"I--I'm not certain what I can do--" 

"You are a Changer, Amanda. If you will, help us. If not, no one can force you to do something against your will, but if you choose not to help us I plead of you not to add to Jaston's power." 

Amanda was tempted by the offer to go in peace, she had no intention of helping Jaston anyway. But as she thought, she realized that she had no life outside of this magic she had been born with that she didn't yet know how to use. Her curiosity and desire to help the weak got the better of her. "I will do whatever I can to help, Your Majesty," she told him with a curtsey. 

Hadar smiled at her. "If you are willing to experiment on animals first, I have a number of soldiers who have volunteered to be changed once you get accustomed to your powers." 

Amanda nodded, "Alright." 

Hadar gestured, and Captain Hawke brought in a large rat. "See what you can do with that, Amanda." 

Amanda closed her eyes, and reached out with her mind toward the rat as her aunt had taught her to do. It was the first extension of magic that opened the door for greater achievements, she had been told. And the prophetess Divinity was particularly wise in the ways of magic. 

She saw the outline of the rodent in her mind, and focusing all of her energies she channeled her changing magic into it. Abruptly, a great squeal startled her into opening her eyes. In the center of the audience chamber stood a rat as large as a pony. 

Stepping back, she blinked in surprise. Allowing her magic to fall to its most natural course, she had somehow taken a common rat and turned it into a giant rat. 

"So I can change sizes, it would appear," Amanda noted. 

King Hadar nodded. "If you concentrate you can change parts individually, I've heard. But you have to be completely focused on what you are doing, and need to remember to protect the vital organs before going into specifics." He peered around. "I have spies in Jaston, they overheard a conversation between the two Changers there." 

Amanda closed her eyes and again called upon her magic, concentrating upon the giant rat. Carefully, she attempted to protect the vital organs, and thought she did it, but wasn't entirely certain what the king had meant by it. Channeling her power, she focused upon making the muscles of the rat larger, and stronger. When she withdrew her magic and opened her eyes, the rat appeared to be more muscular, and apparently had suffered no ill effects. 

"Take the monster away," Hadar ordered. Captain Hawke had to attach a collar to the struggling rodent, but managed to drag it out of the chamber. Then he brought in a large falcon. At his command, the bird fluttered off his wrist and landed a few feet away from Amanda. 

"Try that one," said Hadar. "Be careful, its a trained falcon." 

Amanda nodded, and closed her eyes. The outline of the falcon appeared clearly in her mind, and she called upon her magic. She channeled it into the bird, willing it to be made larger and stronger. Deep in concentration to focus her magic on this and this only, she almost didn't notice when the falcon became twice as large as a man. 

Blinking, Amanda looked in astonishment at the giant bird within the audience chamber. She pondered, a soldier could ride a bird that large. 

King Hadar smiled approvingly. Fortunately the doors to the chamber were large enough for the falcon to leave by. "Perhaps you should keep practicing on animals for a while before you turn to humans." 

"Probably a good idea, I'm still a beginner," Amanda acquiesed. 

Throughout the rest of the day Amanda Changed large numbers of falcons, lizards, bats, cats, wolves, rats, and other assorted animals. King Hadar found the result of giant falcons, cats, and wolves particularly interesting, as the resultant animals were intelligent enough to follow commands and large enough to carry soldiers on their backs. Some of the wolves, however, turned too aggressive to be ridden, and were named wargs, a local name for aggressive wolves, and cast out of the city. The giant bats proved almost useless, their flight too erratic to ride safely, and they too were sent outside to fend for themselves. Most people didn't wnat to get too close to the rats, and they were stupid even in their enlarged form, and they too were cast out. 

Twilight drew near, a dusk that forbode much change in the world. Amanda, tired and mentally worn out, was assisted to her chamber in the palace of Sheenvale, where she collapsed into a deep sleep.


	8. Not an Animal

The storm petered off by dawn. Harmony, still swimming absently, found herself growing hungry, and her fish-like instincts caused her to snatch a stray fish in the water with her hands. Her mind more on moving than what she was doing, she stuck a claw into its brain to kill it, and pulled the skin off the fish and began to pick the meat off its bones. It had an interesting, fishy flavor she thought, before realizing what she was doing. 

She nearly spit the meat out of her mouth, but her feline-piscine body was hungry and demanded food, and she forced herself to swallow it. Her people were complete vegetarians, and she had never eaten any kind of meat before. It was not an unpleasant taste, she realized, but the only unpleasant feeling she had was that she had deliberately caused the death of another creature without even thinking about it. Although this disturbed her, the instincts she had acquired with the form of animals thought nothing of it. 

Harmony pulled herself out of the water onto the wooded shores south of Jaston. Well out of sight of any guards that might be looking for her, she closed her eyes and altered her body to one more suited to land travel. Wolf feet, human hands, cat's tail. She didn't change any more than was necessary, leaving the gills as they were but adding a protective layer across them that could be withdrawn easily. 

Quietly looking about the forest, she slipped into the trees, silent and unseen. 

Or so she had hoped. She hadn't gone too far to the southwest before she felt eyes upon her. Someone, hidden as well as she, was watching her. 

Crouching behind a tree, she tried to get a glimpse of what was following her. Nothing. The forest was perfectly still but for a slight sea breeze drifting off the inlet to the east. Sinking her claws into the bark of the tree, she climbed into its branches and looked down at the path from the vantage point of a large limb. Carefully, she clung to the branches and moved in the direction she thought she had heard a sound. 

A swift motion, and pain struck her sharply in her left arm. Trying to clutch her wound, she tumbled to the ground. Footsteps brought the outlines of a number of people into her inner eye. 

She hissed, "I am not an animal!" 

As she clutched her left arm, the circle of people began to back away. Wild men, she decided, for only wild men would hunt animals. 

An arrow with yellow and white feathers was stuck in her left arm, and a trail of wet blood was starting to drip down her arm. 

"It's not a cat, its a girl!" cried one of the wild men. 

"How long did it take you to figure that out?" hissed Harmony. 

A man approached, with pointed ears and cat's eyes, and she instantly recognized him as Tembre Serra. "Another morph," he told the band of wild men. "Did you, too, escape from Jaston?" 

Harmony nodded. "Tembre Serra, what are you doing with wild men?" 

Tembre blinked, surprised. "Who are you, girl?" 

"I am Harmony Kimchild, Master Changer." She didn't think adding that appelation to her name would make her sound conceited. As far as she knew, she was the only Changer on Albrynnia at all. 

The wild men began to talk rapidly amongst themselves. "It's her! The one we were looking for! Perhaps she will change us!" 

Harmony narrowed her eyes and looked dubiously at them. "Your arrow _hurts_!" she snarled. 

She examined her arm, looking for a way to get it out without hurting even more, but the arrow was deeply embedded in her arm. Well, she thought, it was time to get creative. She focused on the arrowhead, tracing its outline in her mind, and concentrated upon turning it to water. Stone to water, and she grasped the shaft of the arrow and pulled gently. It came free easily, without a point. 

"Don't you dare shoot anything else at me," Harmony warned. She wasn't going to take any nonsense from a bunch of wild men. 

Grinning at them, she willed the arrow to become a snake, and handed it to the wild man with matching arrows in his quiver. He started to take the arrow, but it began writing in his hand. Crying out in surprise, he dropped the brown reptile to the ground. 

The wild men backed away, their awed voices whispering, "Changer!" 

Harmony was uncertain if she could heal, but she closed her eyes, and willed her wound to close. Her skin moved like water, rippling over the wound and closing it, flesh mending. When she opened her eyes again, not a trace of the previous wound remained. 

Their eyes wide, the wild men began to overcome their fear to step closer and revel in this miracle. 

"Now," began Harmony. "What was it you wanted?" 

Looking about, the wild men parted, and a tall man who was clearly the leader stepped through. "Mighty Changer, we wish to purchase use of your powers for a time. In exchange for the transformation of my tribe, I shall grant you safe passage to anywhere on Albrynnia you wish to go." 

Harmony thought about this for a moment, and laughed inwardly. She almost refused, from the sheer arrogance of his request, but since accepting was in her best interest, she replied, "I would be glad to." The wild men smiled and started talking amongst themselves. "Approach me one at a time and state the form you wish to take. Choose carefully, for I will be reluctant to reverse the process, if that is even possible, once changed." 

The leader approached her first. "I am Vridik Steelblade, Chieftain of the Sorrow Tribe. I wish to take on the form of a wolf-man." 

Harmony nodded sternly, and closed her eyes, reaching out with her magic. From practice she knew what to change and what to leave alone, and in seconds Vridik's form changed dramatically. Opening her eyes, she looked on her work with satisfaction. 

A second wild man wished a cat-like form like Tembre's, but still mostly human. Harmony didn't even bother to close her eyes this time, merely gazing at him and watching his shape alter as she watched. 

One by one, she changed every member of the band of wild men, and when she was through she felt very confident in her skill as a Changer, and was actually disappointed when the flow of magic subsided from her body. 

She asked, "Are there any others you wish me to change?" 

The wolf-man Vridik nodded, and said, "If you will come with us, we will take you to our villages in the mountains." 

Harmony felt a strange feeling inside of her, one she could not readily explain from going with a band of wild men. Eagerness. 

* * *

For the next few days, they travelled southward through the forest, occasionally meeting up with other hunting bands of wild folk. When they heard of the Changer they too jumped at the chance to be changed, and Harmony was glad to comply. Even though she didn't understand the wild folk's fascination with animals, she also didn't bother to argue. She asked no questions, and was not bothered.

During the journey, Harmony remained in the cat-like form she had taken outside of Jaston, being more comfortable in it. It was beginning to feel more natural to her. But at times, the feline instincts found her catching and eating small forest animals. With the runed key she had been given when she was a child bouncing against her, she bounded through the forest with the speed of a cat, and brought back her kills to the camp. 

"You know, you really should _cook_ meat before eating it," Hunter told her one day when he saw her eating a still-warm rabbit. Hunter was one who had taken a form similar to Tembre's, which they were starting to call "elf" after myths no one could really remember. 

Harmony sighed at herself. Once, she would have never eaten meat, cooked or otherwise. But now she couldn't help herself. 

Climbing southward, they came into the range of peaks known as the Mountains of Sorrow, where it was rumored that entire cities of wild folk made their home. If those were as eager to be changed as the ones she had known were, Harmony looked forward to the opportunity. 

She refused to stop until she had changed the world.


	9. Dangerous Magic

Slowly, Amanda Kimdaughter woke, and discovered that she had slept to midday. Startled, she jumped up and looked about her, and was surprised to learn that it was not her ranch house on Mount Shadowflame, but a large, regal chamber. Then she remembered she was in Sheenvale. 

"Amanda the Changer," she murmured as she gazed at her very ordinary image in the mirror. 

"Lady Amanda," spoke a servant, holding back the curtain to her room. Amanda turned. "His Majesty, King Hadar, wishes to see you in the courtyard, milady, if it is not inconvinient." 

"Certainly," Amanda smiled. "Take me there." 

"If it pleases you," the servant bowed, leading her out of the chamber and into the wide, regal corridors that crisscrossed the palace. 

Out a pair of massive, bronze doors they stepped into the courtyard. It was a vast enclosure, green grass carpeting the ground split by stone pathways winding about carven stone benches, and the trees were just starting to turn from green to gold and red. It was more of a park than a courtyard, thought Amanda, gazing up briefly at the cold autumn sky, and she wondered briefly why they were outside. 

King Hadar sat on one of the benches, and lines of soldiers stood about or sat on the walkway. 

"Good morrow, Changer," Hadar greeted her cordially. 

"Good morrow, Your Majesty," Amanda curtseyed briefly. 

"These soldiers have volunteered to be Changed." 

Amanda nodded, "Very well, then." 

She approached the first in line, and asked him to step away from the others. Closing her eyes, she saw his outline in her mind, and channeled her power to changing him. There came a sound of ripping cloth, and she knew something had gone wrong, and cut off her magic. 

The soldier, now ten feet tall, stood there with shreds of clothing and armor hanging off him. Embarressed, he was trying to cover his private parts. 

"Hmm," thought Amanda. She had apparently neglected one tiny detail. "Have fun finding a tailor," she muttered under her breath, but the giant didn't hear her. 

The half-naked giant slipped inside, muttering something about finding something to wear. 

Amanda turned to the second soldier in line, this one a woman. Asking her to step away from the others, the Changer closed her eyes again. She focused on the image of the soldier and her armor in her mind, and channeled her magic to enlarging both. When she opened her eyes, she was pleased at her success. Only the woman's sword had remained unchanged, and it looked like a kitchen knife in the hand of the chuckling giant. 

Transforming dozens of soldiers into giants, Amanda found that it became easier and easier to perform the magic. 

King Hadar motioned her toward him. She approached, and he told her, "These giants are great, but perhaps you should try a slightly different form. Perhaps taller, but not as tall as a giant, and more muscular." 

Amanda nodded. "I shall try." 

"No," Hadar snapped. "Don't try. Do." 

Taking a deep breath, Amanda turned to the next soldier. Closing her eyes, she pictured his outline in her mind, and channeled her magic specifically to making him taller and more muscular, like the ogres of legend. Suddenly, the soldier let out an agonized scream, and collapsed heavily to the ground, and she knew something had gone terribly wrong. 

A group of soldiers rushed over to their fallen comrade. She had given him the form of an ogre, and had no idea what in the world could have gone wrong. There was blood on his lips, and blood began to spew out of his mouth. In seconds, he was dead. 

Trembling, Amanda could not look at him. What could have gone wrong? She had done everything, traced his outline, imagined the form she wished him to take-- but she had forgotten to protect his vital organs. With horror she realized what must have happened. 

"I--I'm sorry," Amanda stuttered. 

"It wasn't your fault, Amanda," she heard Captain Hawke's voice say. "Accidents are bound to happen no matter what magic is at work. Try again. It's all you can do." 

Amanda nodded absently, trying to block out the image of the misformed, dying man from her mind. The next soldier stepped up hesitantly, but with a courage she could admire. The young man was clearly afraid, having seen what had happened to his comrade, but accepted the risk. 

Closing her eyes, she reached out with her magic but slowly, tracing his outline and carefully locating his vital organs and shielding them from the magic. She was unskilled in shielding them, but it was all she could do, if it could prevent any harm from coming to him. Focusing on what she was doing, Amanda brought to mind the image of an ogre, or at least what she thought an ogre should look like. She concentrated her magic on making the man grow taller, and expanding his muscles, as well as enlargening his armor at the same time so that he didn't destroy it. Withdrawing her magic, she opened her eyes. Success! 

After much practice, she thought that she had the ogre form down pat, when King Hadar decided for another change. 

"This time," he said, "try dwarves. Shorter, stockier, stronger. Easier for the animals to carry." 

Amanda had never attempted to make anyone smaller before. "I'll try making smaller people first," she told him. "Once I get that down I'll try at making them stockier." 

"As you wish," King Hadar acquiesed. 

Approaching the next soldier, she had her step away from the others, and carefully traced the outline of the woman's body and her armor with her mind. Concentrating deeply upon that form and locking it firmly in her mind, she began to change it, willing the woman to become shorter, smaller than the typical human, but not so small that it would seriously debilitate the woman. She withdrew her magic and opened her eyes. A short, roundish woman about four feet tall stood before her, looking out with golden eyes. 

Fatigue was beginning to wear on Amanda, and she thought she had been doing this for hours. Looking up at the sky, however, told her clearly that she had indeed been doing it for hours. 

"I need to rest," she told the king, who nodded and called for a servant to show her the way back to her chambers. She barely remembered stumbling back and collapsing into a deep, dreamless sleep that gave her little rest. 

* * *

Over the next few days, Amanda changed entire regiments of soldiers into giants, ogres, gnomes, and dwarves, growing more and more weary with every transformation. She wondered how much longer she would be able to keep this up before she suffered even more ill effects. Barely able to keep going at the end of a day, and ending each day earlier and earlier, she was slowly draining herself into complete exhaustion.

More accidents happened, more out of her own weariness than out of her ineptitude. The servants began bringing her more and more food, but she found herself growing less and less hungry. 

"Perhaps I wasn't meant to be a sorceress," she murmured into the mirror one morning. Bags hung under her eyes, and wrinkles from concentration were starting to form on her young forehead. 

Hearing the curtains brush open behind her, she slowly turned around to see Captain Hawke standing at the entrance to her chamber. "May I speak with you, Amanda?" 

She nodded, and the man entered the room. He had always called her Amanda, not some title she may or may not deserve. 

"How are you doing, Amanda?" he asked quietly. 

"Fine," she told him, but the edge in her voice betrayed the lie. 

He took her chin in his hand and looked into her face. "Dear Lights, you're exhausted! You should rest for a few days." 

"I'd have to agree with you," she admitted. 

"The situation is far from urgent. You've done more than enough already to even the odds between Sheenvale and Jaston. You well deserve a vacation." 

"I can't argue with that," Amanda murmured. "I can't even concentrate on breakfast anymore, nevermind changing." 

"I shall tell the king," Captain Hawke declared. "You stay here. Get some sleep. Eat." 

Amanda watched as he swept out of the room, and curled up in her bed, and entered into the realm of dreams, into a deep, restful, healing sleep.


	10. To Change the World

The band of wild folk Tembre and Harmony were travelling with entered the Mountains of Sorrow on the last day of summer, the Autumn Equinox. The weather was already cold and promised only to grow colder as the days and weeks wore on. Tembre almost envied Harmony for her fur coat, having to wrap two cloaks about himself in order to stay warm. 

A small village made of crude wooden huts opened around them, and the villagers at first backed away in startlement, weapons drawn, until Vridik calmed them. 

"My people," he intoned, "I have hunted the forests near Jaston and found one who will usher in a New Age to our struggling people. The city folk have had the advantage for far too long, and they shun us like animals, but we do not have the abilities of animals. Until now. 

"I bring you, Harmony the Changer, a master at her art, who had the power within her to give people the characteristics of animals. Through her incredible magicks, my band has gained many skills which were previously out of our reach. We have claws and fangs to fight with, and we smell creatures a mile away. We run faster, hear better, see better. We are the Changed Ones, and you can join us if you so choose. You, too, can be Changed." 

The wild folk villagers began to talk among themselves in fast, quiet voices, as if weighing the merits of Vridik's speech. The crowd parted, and the leader approached the band. He looked carefully over Vridik, almost unrecognizable in wolf-man form, and bowed. They spoke to one another quickly and quietly, in a dialect Tembre barely recognized and didn't understand. 

Tembre leaned over to Harmony and murmured, "Wild men talk fast." 

Harmony nodded and chuckled to herself. "And they don't have a lot worth saying. I swear half of what they've said is nonsense." 

"Yeah," agreed Tembre. 

Harmony strode toward Vridik and announced, "Anyone wishing to be changed, approach me one at a time and tell me what form you wish to take." 

Immediately, dozens of villagers lined up and began to babble out their requests. Some were particularly creative, but Harmony's magic was easily strong enough to accomodate them. Many of the villagers chose the more popular forms of wolf-man and elf, while others wanted wings or gills. Some wanted deer's hooves and horns, and others prefered paws, or goat's hooves, or sheep's wool to keep them warm in the winter. Harmony could hardly keep up with their requests. 

Tembre watched from a distance as man after man, woman after woman, stepped into a New Age, an Age of Transformation, where the work of one girl could change the world, and the differences between human and animal became unclear. He decided that he liked this Age, where the windows of opportunity opened wide and those that had previously been indentured cast off their chains and walked as free men and women. 

When Harmony stepped away, only a few of the villagers had opted to remain human, and even those finally gave in and asked Harmony to make them elves. 

"Will any true humans be left by the time you're done?" asked Tembre. 

"Probably not," admitted Harmony. "Or at least, not for long, or if I have anything to do with it. Humankind will go extinct, to be replaced by a thousand variations of races. Welcome to the New Age, Tembre Serra. Are you ready for it?" 

* * *

They travelled diligently through the Pass of Lamentation, and tireless Harmony transformed whole villages as they passed through them. They took a roundabout path rather than a direct one in order to reach more villages. Each transformation, Tembre noticed, went faster than the last, until Harmony had only to look at someone and they Changed, so it seemed to him.

One night while they were staying in yet another village, Tembre approached Harmony. 

"Can I talk with you?" he asked. 

"Always, you do have a tongue, unless you wish that to be removed. Forked tongues are quite the rage these days, I hear." 

Tembre smirked. "Funny." 

Harmony was, at present, in the shape of a humanoid tabby cat with amber eyes, white-blue feathered wings, gills, and goat's horns. Occasionally she flicked a forked tongue out of her mouth at him, and he wondered obliquely how she managed to talk with it. He assumed that she found some way of accomplishing that, as nothing seemed impossible to the Master Changer. 

"Harmony, have you ever tried changing animals too?" he asked. 

The Changer pointed at a bird that was pecking at the ground nearby, and it suddenly turned into a winged squirrel. She didn't need to point at things to change them, Tembre knew, but merely pointed to draw his attention to it. 

"I don't like all these old, boring animals," Harmony said disdainfully. With a glance, a horse that had been tethered to a post nearby sprouted wings. 

"You have grown in power greatly, Master Changer," Tembre spoke in awe. 

Harmony purred in response to his praise. "It took me a while to learn how to form wings and still allow the creature to have arms or four legs." 

"A while?" 

"Yeah, about five minutes." 

Tembre laughed heartily and tickled Harmony mercillessly till she fell down laughing. 

"You made me what I am," Tembre told her. "At first I hated it, but as I have grown accustomed to it, I have come to be glad of my transformation. The days of war upon war dragging on into time immemoral are over, even if the wars continue." 

"Wars will always continue," Harmony commented, "so long as human instincts remain, even buried under the forms of animal-people." 

"Human instincts aren't all that bad," the elf protested. "What of the instinct to help others, and love, and nurture?" 

Harmony reached out with a forked tongue and licked the tip of his nose. "Where did you get these instincts?" 

"I don't know," he admitted. "I honestly don't know." 

She curled up and began to purr contently. "My father taught me, that the difference between people and animals is that people have minds and hearts. Minds to think with and hearts to feel with. Call it a soul if you will, or a spirit, it's all the same thing." 

"Well," Tembre shrugged, "I was never much interested in philosophy personally. 

Harmony laughed, and her laughter was clear as silver bells. "You certainly talk a lot about philosophy for one not interested in it." 

"Perhaps I have changed since then." Tembre winked.


	11. Flight of the Hawk

Nightmares plagued Amanda's fitful sleep, horrific dreams of death and terrible monsters, chasing her through a mire. No matter how far she ran through the forests and mazes of withered trees, they were always right behind her, snapping at her heals with fangs dripping saliva and talons dripping blood. A wicked white moon glared down at her, and a disdainful green moon mocked her fear. 

She knew that to stop running was to give in to the beasts that chased her, for their claws would surely rip her to shreds, so she continued to sprint though exhausted she was, somehow drawing from some vast reserve of energy she didn't know she had. Gasping for breath, she turned around a bend in the path, only to see more monsters rushing toward her from the direction in which she had been running. 

Panicked, she grabbed a hold of one of the withered branches above her and swung up into the tree, just above the bloodthirsty jaws that snapped at her. She climbed higher and higher, finally reaching the swaying top of the dead tree. In horror, she watched as the creatures began clawing at the base of the tree, almost ripping it from its roots. 

"Why are you chasing me?" she cried over the roars of the beasts. 

"Why are you running from us?" they asked in return. 

Amanda clenched her eyes shut and hung onto the tree trunk for dear life. One slip and the razorsharp claws would rip apart her flesh. One slip and it would all be over. 

Gazing at the withered tree, she willed it to grow, to bear her away from these beasts, and the tree came to life again. Leaves sprung forth, and branches reached outward, and the tree grew taller and taller, until she could see over all the world and touch the sky. Vast mountains and wooded valleys spread before her, blanketed by the depths of night, but she looked to the east, and dawn was approaching. A reign of darkness would soon end, and a new day would dawn. 

Light struck her eyes, and Amanda blinked them open, and it was dawn in Sheenvale. A new refreshing dawn that brings promise of change, and she saw that something had indeed changed. The terrible weariness that had plagued her was lifted from her, and she breathed in the fresh morning air. 

* * *

Amanda slipped outside, drawn with a sudden urge to get away from Sheenvale, at least for a while. Slipping into Captain Hawke's chamber, she found a hodded cloak that fit her and a trained hawk. She called the bird to her with a whistle and stepped out onto the balcony. Placing the bird on the rail before, her, she took a step back.

Tracing the outline of the hawk in her mind, she channeled her magic into it slowly, protecting its vital organs and willing it to grow larger and strong enough so that she could ride it. The magic came obiediantly under her control, and the giant hawk stood before her, a perfect success. 

Amanda pulled some wool straps out of Captain Hawke's belongings and fashioned a makeshift saddle. Careful not to spook the bird as she mounted it, she carefully tied herself to its neck so that she didn't fall off. She put a makeshift bit in the bird's beak and tied reins to guide it with. 

"Go!" she cried, and the bird took to the air with a leap. Jostled about by the initial takeoff, Amanda was certain she would have fallen off had it not been for the harness. However, she found that the bird didn't know what the bit was for, and she only managed to guide it through its own instincts to turn directions. Her dark cloak billowed in the wind that rushed by her. 

High in the air, she looked down upon the valley below, the great city-state of Sheenvale in its heart around a shining lake. The library tower jutted into the air in the southern part of the city. Far to the northeast and southwest ranged the blue and white peaks of mountains, the Mountains of Sorrow to the north, and the Reflective Mountains to the south. 

Amanda turned her hawk to the east, and flew over a line of hills marking the eastern edge of Sheenvale and entered into the region drained by the largest river in the world, Tatret, the Forest River. Streams crisscrossed the countryside, flowing between hillsides and valleys, rushing toward the great bay far to the south. All green were the valleys, entirely carpeted in vasts forests across all the land. 

Amanda wanted to go on, to pull as far from Sheenvale and its nightmares as she could, but the hawk's instinct was to return to its perch at twilight, and the sun was already growing low in the sky. She hadn't realized that she had been gone nearly that long, having been dawn when she left. No matter which way she pulled the reins, she could not overcome the hawk's instinct to return to its balcony. 

The enormous hawk came to perch on the railing of the balcony, and Amanda reluctantly unstrapped herself and slipped down in front of it. Captain Hawke rushed out, the curtains to the chamber fluttering as he slipped through them. 

"What are you doing?" he asked quietly. 

"Just went out for a ride," she told him. 

"You feeling any better now?" 

She gave a weak smile. "Much better, thank you." 

"Glad to hear it. We were worried about you when you disappeared." 

"I have not been mistreated here. If anything, I mistreated myself." 

Her stomach growled, and she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten anything. "Come inside," Hawke told her. "You must be famished." 

It was starting to grow dark outside, and a chilly autumn breeze caused her to shiver involuntarily. Amanda nodded in agreement and followed him inside. 

Captain Hawke's chambers were warm and bright around a blazing hearthfire, and at a gesture from the man a servant brought them food enough to feed ten people. 

"Whatever possessed you to ride a giant hawk?" the guard captain asked her. 

She shrugged. "Just needed to get outside and get some fresh air." 

"I don't doubt it," he chuckled. "The king envisions armies of dwarves riding wolves and falcons into battle, and he doesn't like it when his visions are withheld." 

"I can understand, I guess," she commented. "Being a king, after all--" 

"Nobody likes it when their dreams are shattered." 

"Well, that's true I guess," Amanda allowed. 

"Hadar is a good king," Hawke murmured. "But, like any man or woman, he has his strengths, and his weaknesses." 

Amanda ate her dinner and pretended that she didn't hear him. 

* * *

Amanda returned to her work of changing in Sheenvale the next day, and as promised created first numbers of gnomes to make sure she was doing nothing wrong, then went on to the more risky dwarves. She transformed them more slowly and carefully than she had been doing before, and the number of accidents was greatly reduced, although not eliminated altogether. Every now and again she lost her concentration and something disasterous happened. Fortunately the victims did not live long.

The king seemed very pleased at her increased rate of success, and she discovered that she wasn't growing tired after every changing as she had been before. She decided this was a good thing, because she needed her full concentration on what she was doing and not the bed at the end of the day. 

In additions to the dwarves, King Hadar had her change several wolves and falcons so that they could be ridden. Also a few of the dwarves requested enormous lizards for their scaly protection. But winged mounts proved the more popular. 

Amanda had been intrigued by her magic at first, but yearned for something new, and constantly dreamed of something more. 

"So long as people have dreams," she told herself, "the world will not grow stagnant."


	12. The Power of the Enchanter

In Jaston things were looking hectic, servants and soldiers running from one part of the city to another with no apparent pattern. Swamp watched from the window in his chamber in the palace with a sneer. The petty mortals served him well, most of the time. 

Behind him, the curtains to the chamber brushed open, and he turned to the servant cowering in the doorway. 

"M-Mighty Enchanter," the servant spoke in fear. "I bring n-news." 

"Out with it," commanded Swamp. He liked his effect on people, but didn't have time for it. 

"The armies of the Mitten Alliance have been decimated. However, a new threat arises from the south. The armies of Sheenvale have been reinforced with..." he trailed off. 

"With what?" growled Swamp, glowering at the servant. 

"Giants. Ogres. Dwarves riding giant birds and wolves." 

Swamp cursed under his breath. It had to be Harmony. The only Changers in the world this generation were he and his cousin. She must have found a new facet to her powers that they had previously overlooked. 

"Were there any people who were part animal, as well?" 

The servant shook his head. "If the soldier who brought me this news had seen any he would have told me." 

Most odd, thought Swamp. This might definitely interfere with his plans. No matter. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve. Grinning evilly, he thought this was the perfect opportunity to display the true power of the Enchanter. 

He strode into the office of the general, Thezzer Khan, his face grim. The general looked up from his charts and stood, nodding respectfully to Swamp as he entered. 

"How may I help you, Master Enchanter?" 

"I want your five best men, and your five best women. I want them each the best at what they do, and of difference abilities. Warrior, assassin, spy, thief, so long as they are all the best and all different." 

General Khan arched an eyebrow. "As you wish. I shall search for such men and woman immediately. When do you need them?" 

"As soon as possible," Swamp told him gravely, then marched out of the room. 

* * *

It took General Khan five days to fulfill Swamp's request, during which the Enchanter grew ever more impatient. He had almost come to the conclusion that Khan was being intentionally disobedient when a page entered his chamber and announced that the general wished to speak with him.

Five men and five women stood in ranks in the general's office, each bearing their chosen weaponry. They looked to be a mismatched group, those that would earn the reputation as the most feared humans in all of Albrynnia, but Swamp could sense their skill in the way they handled themselves before General Khan introduced them. 

"I have fulfilled your request, Master Enchanter," intoned Khan. "I present to you, the best in Jaston." 

Swamp nodded, crossing his arms. "Give me their names." 

"Dalta Verret, the assassin. Savarin Dall, the blademaster. Kish Marael, the axe-man. Tatsaros Talavine, the thief. Wendaril Talisdaughter, the martial artist. Jeven Reet, the spy. Laren Tell, the paladin. Andreas Truemark, the archer. Kazdarian Kavir, the lancer. And..." 

A woman in the back row cleared her throat. Khan nodded to her. "I am called Erin." She held a sturdy quarterstaff in her hands. 

Swamp looked curiously at their weapons, many of which were made of wood. Only wild men used weapons such as many of these. Swamp leaned over and asked Khan, "Do we have wild men in the army?" 

The general nodded quickly, "A few, a few, only a few. But they hold their own, and fight well, and have never betrayed us." 

So the rumors he had heard were true after all. Not only did city folk sometimes turn wild, but wild folk sometimes came to the cities. But, Swamp thought, they could never really be called civilized. 

He turned to his small army. "You have been chosen to fulfill a great purpose. Chosen to carry on a great and powerful legacy for generations to come, for what I will do this day will affect not only you, but all those of your blood, for now and for all time. All those that carry your blood will have within them the potential for the power that I will now give to you, the Chosen Ones." 

The men and woman were silent, absorbing his words. 

"Step forward, one at a time, and you shall feel the true power of the Enchanter." 

They broke ranks and stood single file. 

First was Wendaril, the monk. In her he sensed a spark of wind magic, able to detect it only from long working with his magic. It was easier to amplify magic than to grant it where none had existed before. 

"Wendaril Talisdaughter, I grant unto you the power of Wind! When the storm rages you will feel it in your blood, when you reach toward the sky you will touch the still air and churn it into a whirlwind!" 

He channeled his own power into her, into the spark of magic buried within her, and magnified it, powering pure energy into it until a radiant blue aura surrounded the woman, and the wind whistled around her as her untamed magic grew. Her eyes widened and she fell to her knees, struggling to control the power. 

Undetered, Swamp turned to the next in line, the young assassin. She was a graceful young woman whose manner of moving indicated sheer confidence, and probably a number of concealed daggers. 

"Dalta Verret, I grant unto you the power of Ice! Your glance will freeze people motionless where they stand, your touch will cause frost beneath your fingers, and though you will feel the cold still it can never harm you." 

In a surge of power, the woman was suddenly surrounded by a chilling mist, and snowflakes began to swirl around her. 

He pushed her aside. The swordsman approached, drew his sword and kneeled, and saluted Swamp with the blade. 

"Savarin Dall, I grant unto you the power of Fire! Flickering flames will run down the blade of your sword, and blazing fires will scorch those in your path. You will feel heat, but it will never again be able to harm you." 

Power rushed into the man, flames bursting around him, that would have consumed him if he had not been now immune. 

Little did any of them know it, thought Swamp wryly, but they had already had these powers in their blood, he had merely brought them out into the open, and enchanted their blood to carry it on from generation to generation. It was their blood he Changed, not anything about them. 

A woman hefting a large battle-axe approached, and knelt. 

"Kish Marael, I grant unto you the power of Earth! The ground shall tremble at your passing, and your axe shall never dull, but cleave through the hardest stone as if it were wood!" 

As he lit the spark within her, the ground shook, causing many of them to grab onto something to avoid falling over. But Kish's willpower was strong, and she brought her magic under control. 

The thief slinked forward, falling to his knees and placing his hands firmly on the ground. 

"Tatsaros Talavine, I grant unto you the power of Binding! No walls shall hold you, no cell shall keep you, no chains shall bind you! Locks will open at your touch." 

A pale, grayish-blue light surrounded Tatsaros's hands for a moment, and slowly seeped into his body. What had once been a particular talent for lockpicking become something far greater. 

Jeven stepped up, his brown cloak falling about him and his eyes making him look as if he belonged there. 

"Jeven Reet, I grant unto you the power of Illusion! With a thought you can make people see things that are not there and conceal what is truly there." 

A thousand images spun around the spy's head, spinning out of control and finally vanishing in a puff of smoke. 

The paladin stepped forward, a large mace hanging from her belt. She knelt before Swamp and took in a deep breath. 

"Laren Tell, I grant unto you the power of Water! The tides shall come at your call and rivers will flow uphill, and water seep out of the ground where there was none before. You need never have fear of drowning, for you can now breathe the water as if it were air." 

A deep blue aura radiated from the woman, rippling in the air with the sounds of water, and scattered like droplets of rain. 

The archer stepped forward with his bow, and fell to his knees at the Enchanter's feet. 

"Andreas Truemark, I grant unto you the power of Lightning! From your bow you will shoot bolts of lightning rather than arrows, and be able to call a storm from a clear sky. If ever you are struck by electricity, it will never harm you, but grant you power." 

Torrents of pure energy crackles around Andreas, sending off sparks before it calmed. 

Spear in hand, the lancer approached and knelt. 

"Kazdarian Kavir, I grant unto you the power of Speech! No language will be alien to your ears, and you will be able to speak in any language, as well as be able to communicate with intelligent animals." 

A thousand voices seemed to babble in the air around Kazdarian, speaking louder and more frantically all at once until the lancer silenced them with closing his eyes and opening them again. 

The woman with the staff stepped forward, looking as though she did not want to kneel, but pressured to show respect for the Enchanter. She did not kneel, or even bow, to Swamp. The Enchanter smirked in amusement to himself as he sought out her latent magic. 

He sensed in her the power of Seeking, and far stronger in her than the powers he had granted to any of the others. Swamp became unnerved, knowing the potential power of a Seeker, but she had no other magic which he could amplify in its place. He had never magnified the magic of someone already strong before, and was uncertain about what could happen. 

"To you, Erin, I name you the Seeker. No truth shall be hidden from you, no lie will cross you undetected, no illusion will be seen for other than it truly is. People in distant lands you will sense as clearly as if you were near them, and things which have been concealed will be revealed in your eyes. Use this power wisely, and with caution, for often the truth can hurt." 

A flash of white light surrounded Erin the Seeker, radiating from her, and her eyes began to glow so brightly she had to have been blinded from it. The Chosen Ones covered their eyes at the brilliance of the light emanating from the Seeker, and Swamp saw the fear in their eyes. 

The last thing Swamp saw was Erin's quarterstaff striking him in the forehead before he even knew what hit him, and knew as darkness took him that he had made a terrible mistake.


	13. The Keep of Stone Rain

There was much rejoicing in the Mountains of Sorrow, as Harmony and the band of wild men came to a strange city high in the mountains. An array of stone buildings towered into the sky. 

"Welcome to the Keep of Stone Rain, the hold of my tribe," Vridik told her. 

The city was massive, far larger than Harmony had ever imagined wild men could have possibly built, on a scale that rivaled Jaston and Sheenvale and the other city-states of the day. The stone had been carefully cut and laid together so that it looked as if it had grown that way. They climbed up a winding staircase up the cliff and came to the massive gates of the keep. 

She was greeted warmly by the wild men, who, upon learning who she was, immediately began swarming her for Changing. Harmony had a field day in Stone Rain Keep, and many new and intriguing types of morves were devised between the creativity of the wild men and the Master Changer. 

"So many people to Change," Harmony breathed, reveling in the experience. It would take time and effort, but she was determined that nothing would remain unchanged. She even changed every animal she had come across into new and more interesting forms. 

Word spread among the wild men of the mountains that the great Changer, Harmony Kimchild, had come to Stone Rain Keep, and many made the pilgrimage there to be Changed one and all. Harmony never wondered for a moment why these wild men were so eager to be Changed when the civilized folk often seemed to fear it. It pleased her only that she had willing subjects who could provide suggestions and input. 

Through long practice, Harmony's skill with Changing became greater and more precise. No longer did she need to consider existing forms when taking changes into account, but merely alter one part at a time. Mainly she practiced with her own form, being able to control exactly what changes she wanted to make, but also she experimented with any person that allowed her to, or any unchanged animal she came across. 

It was during those experiments that the first real problems with Harmony's power arose. Although she had never had the same problem Amanda had with accidental deaths during a change, she failed to take into account that when she changed something, it still retained the same mind, but that mind was often warped and confused by its new form. And so when she decided to change a large horse into a many-headed serpent, the results weren't at all what she had hoped for. The hydra went feral. 

"By Veseveret, what is that thing?" a feline archer cried as it watched the rampaging beast. 

Swordsmen beat the thing and tried to cut off its heads, but the heads kept regrowing. "We can't kill that thing," Vridik shouted. "And we can't let it loose on the countryside. Drive it into the dungeon!" 

Many people were injured as they lured and drove the hydra toward the dungeon, and finally into the caverns beneath the keep, before locking it inside. They breathed a sigh of relief as the thick iron bars held the monster at bay, and it eventually lost interest in them to go hunt the large rats under the keep. 

"Harmony," Vridik said to her imploringly. "What happened? What went wrong?" 

"I don't know," Harmony sighed. "Maybe it just couldn't handle its new form. The Changing went flawlessly, but once it was done, the thing just sort of snapped." 

"It doesn't appear anyone was seriously injured, at least," Vridik commented, assessing the damage. "Our stronger, faster animal forms made sure of that. Were we still entirely human, we'd never have survived." 

"Maybe it was the fact that it had multiple heads," Harmony mused. "I hadn't thought of that." 

"Maybe. I don't know. Don't stop trying, Harmony. We'll lock anything that goes too wrong into the dungeon. Hopefully they'll take care of themselves there." 

"Alright," the Changer sighed. "I'll just need more subjects." 

"You've changed everyone in the keep?" Vridik asked, a little surprised. 

Harmony nodded. "Everyone. And every animal in or near it." 

"Well, another patrol should be coming in sometime. They're flocking in from all over to see you, you know." 

"Best not say words like 'flocking' around me too much. I'm likely to turn them all into ariels," Harmony commented with a wry grin. 

Vridik just chuckled softly and went off to see to his men.


	14. White Eyes

And so Erin the Seeker led the Chosen Ones out of Jaston, no guard daring to oppose or stop them after a brief display of their power. The prone Enchanter was found unconscious not long afterward by a startled guard, who quickly ran to get the general.

Swamp was quickly woken, and the concerned general began demanding, "What's going on? What happened?" 

The albino snarled angrily. "We've been betrayed. When I told you to bring me our best, I meant that they be _loyal_ , too." 

The general sputtered, "But--but--they _were_ loyal, I thought." 

"They just assaulted me and stormed out of here!" Swamp roared. 

"I'll have search parties sent out to apprehend them and bring them back immediately," the general promised. 

"No. Don't bother," Swamp muttered. "Those... _mensch_ , wouldn't stand a chanse against the ten of them." 

Thezzer Khan blinked only slightly at Swamp's use of the obscure word. "We can send out groups of fifty or a hundred to find them, then." 

" _No_ ," Swamp growled. "You don't understand. They have _powers_ , powers beyond anything your men can deal with. No." 

Khan was stunned. "So what are we going to do? What _can_ we do? We aren't just going to let them get away with this, are we?" 

"Of course not," the Enchanter grumbled. "But sending mensch after them will do no good. We need another way to control them. I want you to bring me some _loyal_ people. And I mean it this time." 

Swamp was already devising a new plan, piecing together how to do it and just what could go wrong with it, and how to account for that. Yes, this time, he'd do it right. He'd get the Chosen Ones under control. During the time he waited for Khan to round up some that were trustworthy, he completed his plans, and knew exactly what he was going to do. It was perfect, flawless, but it depended upon at least most of _this_ group not betraying them. 

General Khan returned, several uniformed soldiers in tow. "I have fulfilled your request, Master Enchanter. These men and women have sworn their lives to the service of Jaston, and will not betray us." 

"Excellent," Swamp said, looking over the soldiers. They were more conventional of civilized people, with their metal weapons and wool uniforms. None of this wild filth that had crept in to betray them. As he gazed at them, he gauged their power. None of them had the Talent he intended to give them, and that suited him just fine. 

The soldiers arranged themselves in rows, looking at him passively, but with a hint of nervousness in their eyes. Swamp knew what he was doing, though. He paced before them, tweaking things slightly as he went, before finally speaking to them and declaring just what it was he was doing. 

"You have been brought here because of your loyalty to the service of Jaston," Swamp told them. "And this is necessary, because a good deal of trust is being vested in you by the powers I am about to grant you. To you, the powers of the mind will be open, to read and influence, and even to control, those whom you touch." 

There were murmurings among the soldiers, a few of them. Most of them were too well-disciplined for that, and they were quickly silenced and resumed their staring at Swamp. Was he serious? 

Swamp found their dark stares irritating. He wished more people had pale eyes like him. Much as he hated to admit it, he knew he was different, and an outcast among his own people. "As a mark of your power," he told them, "Your eyes shall be white, and bear no color. Wear it with pride, that people may know at a glance that you are among the elite of Jaston." 

The soldiers could not help but look to one another at this, and see that it was true, that each of their comrades bore the mark of white eyes. A couple of them touched one another, testing their new power. 

"Much as I would like to give you time to grow accustomed to your new powers," the Enchanter interrupted them, "there is a pressing matter that requires your immediate attention. A group of renegade mages has betrayed the city-state and escaped into the forest. You are to pursue them, and control them, and bring them back alive if at all possible. If it isn't possible at this time, you are to pull back and let them go. Do not risk killing yourselves or them foolishly if it isn't at all necessary." The soldiers nodded as they received these orders. "Dismissed." 

With that, the newly enchanted telepaths filed out of the room. Once they were gone, General Khan approached Swamp and said quietly, "I do hope you know what you're doing." 

Swamp turned to him and said darkly, "If they fail us, you will be the only one to blame here, for you chose them." 

"They will not fail us. That group is completely loyal to the service of Jaston. _They_ know how to follow orders." 

"For your sake, General Khan, I hope you're right," Swamp grated. 

* * *

The telepathic soldiers set out on their mission immediately, pursuing the Chosen Ones who had left some hours previous. The trail proved not at all difficult to follow, however, as it was lined with scorched ground, lightning-struck trees, upheavaled earth, and other such anomalies that marked the passage of the mages. The telepaths were growing worried that these powers would be directed at them if they weren't careful, and came up with a quick plan to surround them and touch them before they knew they were there. No, they'd follow them until they slept and then take them. But they figured that they'd leave guards, so they'd have to deal with the guards. Nonetheless, that was the best solution. Yes. 

The mages kept moving well into the night, the telepaths still shadowing them closely, but finally they set up camp to settle in for sleep. The telepaths watched from their vantage point hidden in the trees as most of them curled up to sleep. But the woman with the staff stood guard. She'd be the one they had to take out first. 

Quietly, the telepaths crept around, taking up positions around the camp. Since there were more telepaths than mages there, they'd have some chance of getting them all even if some couldn't get in close enough in time. Three of them turned to creep up on Erin, not realizing that she was a Seeker. 

As they were almost close enough to touch her, Erin whipped around with her staff, knocking two of them out cold at once, and shouting an alarm. The other mages were quickly bolt alert, forcing the telepaths to dive in and physically grab at them as fast as they could. It was fortunate for the telepaths that the mages didn't really expect this method of attack, and all but Erin were subdued quickly. 

Once the mages were under control, the captain of the telepathic soldiers, Evian Frenik, said to her, "Surrender now. Your friends are under our control. We don't want to have to hurt you." 

Erin turned and looked at the other mages, and saw that the man spoke truth. "No," she said defiantly. "I will not surrender." She broke into a run into the trees. 

Under control of the telepaths, magic ripped through the leaves, shaking the ground and bringing down trees into her path, trying to slow her flight or cause her to stumble without seriously hurting her. But Erin somehow sensed what they were doing and where, and managed to evade it all. They chased after her briefly before realizing that she was faster than they were, and she already had a head start. Deciding to stick to their orders and bring back the rest of the mages, the telepaths gathered up their charges and returned to Jaston. 

Swamp was quite pleased with the results, and that only one of them escaped. He wasn't particularly sorry about Erin's loss. She was his mistake, he knew. She was the one who was too strong and willful to have been trusted with that kind of power. Good riddance to her, he thought. 

The experiment with the telepaths, however, was a great success. They had successfully subdued a group of powerful mages without taking any injury to themselves. This was a power to be reckoned with. Elementalists were great for footsoldiers, he mused, but when it came to the elite special forces, the telepaths were absolutely perfect. This time, he'd done it right.


	15. Freedom

It came to a point where Amanda's services in Sheenvale were no longer a pressing matter. She had changed enough soldiers and beasts for war that no more were really needed for that purpose at the moment. A little more freedom was allowed her, and she went out into the city streets among the citizens of Sheenvale.

But now, she decided, her time here was finished. It was time to slip away and take her freedom, and do as she wished with her power. There were so many more things she wished to achieve, so many goals she wished to accomplish, that she did not believe were possible remaining here. 

She glanced off toward the castle, where she saw ogres training on nightmares for battle. The nightmares had been one of her later projects, enormous warhorses large enough to seat ogres and giants, and powerful enough to trample everything in their path. They were difficult to control, however, and weren't overly intelligent, but King Hadar believed them to be worth the effort, being domesticated animals to begin with, unlike the rats and wolves. 

However, the nightmares would provide an excellent chance for her to escape. Unlike the falcons and hawks, they weren't trained to return to their perch. They were trained only to be obedient to whoever their current master happened to be. And that suited Amanda just fine. 

Out of sight of much of the crowd, Amanda slipped onto the back of a horse tethered beside the inn. As she worked her magic on the beast, it reared its head, its powerful muscles easily snapping the rope tying it in place. Amanda struggled to stay on and guide the beast out of the city as people panicked behind her and either ran away from her or ran toward her. The nightmare's thunderous hooves rent the ground as it broke into a gallop into the forest. Small trees and bushes were snapped and crushed beneath the enormous steed. 

Amanda laughed at the speed of this creature. This probably wasn't the best way to go if she wanted to slip away unnoticed, but it certainly made an impression. This was the feeling of freedom, she thought as the nightmare's hooves ate the miles away as it sped away from Sheenvale. 

After a long ride, she wearily came to a halt, both her and her mount exhausted. Little did she realize that someone was watching her every move. 

In the shadows of the trees, several lithe catpeople and elves were watching her. They knew from the strange beast she rode that she must either be a Changer or have had contact with one, and the only Changer they knew was up in Stone Rain Keep. And this stranger wore the clothing of the city folk. 

Cautiously, their leader approached the woman as she began to settle in to rest. Amanda was trying to find a way to keep the nightmare from running off in the night, but it was a futile effort as she had no chains strong enough to hold it. The elf stood there silently for several minutes until Amanda noticed him with a start. 

"Do not be alarmed," the elf told her. "We do not mean you harm unless you mean us harm." 

Amanda peered at him, taking in his strange, pointed ears and odd posture. "Who are you?" 

"My name is unimportant. Who are you?" 

"I'm Amanda Kimdaughter. Changer." 

"Amanda Kimdaughter," the elf mused. "Any relation to Harmony Kimchild?" 

"Err, yes, she's my cousin," Amanda blinked in confusion. "Where is she?" 

"Not far from here. If you can travel a little bit further, we will take you there." 

"Very well," the Changer sighed, mounting up on her nightmare again. The animal was tired, but a little walk wouldn't hurt, she supposed. 

The elves and catpeople led her up to Stone Rain Keep. True to their word, it wasn't particularly far from where she had stopped, and there also they had chains and resources to keep the nightmare under control. They had invested rather heavily in them after the hydra incident. 

"Well, well, well," said Harmony, looking over the new arrival. "If it isn't my cousin, Amanda. You need a makeover." Harmony waved her hand, and promptly Amanda had the pointed ears and cat's eyes of an elf. 

Amanda blinked for a moment. "Hello to you too, Harmony." 

"Welcome to the Keep of Stone Rain," grinned Harmony, who presently had bat-like wings, a whip tail, claws, green scales with brown spots, and three horns. "Have you come to help me change the world?" 

"Right now," Amanda told her wearily, "I'd like to just get some sleep, if you don't mind." 

Harmony chuckled softly as the morves led Amanda off to some empty quarters to sleep.


	16. The Seeker

As Erin was sure she'd lost her pursuers, she slowed to a furtive walk and relaxed a bit. These were the forests of her home, she had no reason to be afraid here. With her heightened senses, she'd even be able to detect the wild men of the woods when they were trying to hide.

And detect them she did, but what she saw wasn't entirely what she expected to see. Rather than humans hiding in the trees, her senses picked up strange beings that were part human and part animal. Lithe catfolk, fierce wolfmen, quick lizardpeople, and swift ariels. 

"I see you, friends," Erin said to the air. "You can come out. Erin the Seeker has returned to you." 

Hesitantly, the wild folk emerged from the trees to greet Erin. She felt immediately out of place as a human amongst animal-people. So much had happened and changed since she had gone to Jaston. 

"Erin," one of them said, "Where have you been?" 

The Seeker leaned on her wooden staff and looked them over. "Jaston. What happened to the lot of you? I thought the Changer was in Jaston. Why do you think I was there?" 

"No, the Changer has gone to Stone Rain Keep," they told her. 

"Alright," Erin nodded. "Let's go, then." 

She set off at once over woods and mountains toward the keep, the small patrol of different beasts trailing along with her. They told her about how Harmony was Changing everyone she came across, even the animals. Erin listened with interest, her heightened senses picking up unicorns which had once been dear in the forest to confirm their tale as they travelled. 

And so she climbed up to Stone Rain Keep and saw the multitude of morves that had taken the place of the wild men who had once inhabited it. "Well," she announced, looking them over. "I see there have been some changes around here. Where can I find the Changer?" 

An elf and a zebra-striped shark-skinned woman with bone ridges down her head, back, and tail approached Erin. "Greetings," said the striped woman. "We are Harmony and Amanda, the Changers. What would you like to be today?" 

"Wait a minute," Erin interrupted. " _Changers_? I thought there was only one." 

"Well, it seems there isn't," Harmony went on. "It seems that my cousin here has the power as well, although manifested in a different way. You see, I can change people's form, but not their size and mass. Amanda can change their size, but not their form in any major way." 

"I see," Erin said, her eyes widening. "So between the two of you, you can change anyone into anything, right?" 

"Just about," Amanda put in. 

"Although we haven't had much practice working in concert," Harmony added. "So, what would you like to be?" 

"Sorry to disappoint you, but nothing major, please. Perhaps that pointed-eared form, what did they call them? Elves, yes. I'd like to be an elf." 

Amanda seemed only a little disappointed as Harmony took the reins and happily turned Erin into an elf. The Seeker's form changed and became more agile and slender, her ears pointed. Her brown hair changed to a glistening gold, and her gray eyes became a sparkling blue. When the transformation was complete, Erin searched for a mirror to examine her new appearance, and found a shining plate in the kitchen. For a long while she stood there admiring her appearance, not at all displeased with the results. 

Fair hair and blue eyes had never been common among her people, but they seemed much more common among the elves, as well as the elves being pale-skinned. Either a side effect of the Changing, or a personal preference of Harmony's, it was difficult to say. 

She heard shouts coming from outside, and raced out to see what the commotion was. The cause became immediately apparent as she spotted a giant with one large eye rampaging through the keep. The people were trying to hold it at bay and drive it into the dungeon, which thankfully had been built large enough to accomodate it. Erin ran up to it with her elven swiftness and whacked it with her staff several times, dodging out of the way of its fists and feet. After a lengthy struggle with the brute, they finally managed to lock it in the dungeon. 

"Another experiment gone wrong," explained a dejected Harmony with a sigh. 

"Trying to combine your powers?" asked Erin. 

Harmony nodded. "It didn't work as well as I'd expected." 

"I'm sure you'll get it right eventually," Erin said encouragingly. 

"How many must die, be maimed, or driven insane by our power before we do?" Amanda asked pensively. 

"As many as necessary," Erin said distantly. 

"Is it worth the price?" Amanda went on. 

"The world has entered into a new era," Erin told her. "Would you be happy to die some years down the road, and never know where your power could have taken you? To know what heights you could have achieved?" 

"We will continue our experiments," Harmony insisted. "No matter what the price. And then, one day, the world will see the true power of the Changers."


	17. Valuable Information

Swamp paced about his quarters irritably, the telepath Evian Frenik standing by the door, partly guarding the chamber and partly giving suggestions and feedback. The telepaths were highly intelligent, perhaps a side effect of their mental powers, and he saw no reason to put their problem-solving capabilities to waste. He found they also served as excellent questioners, as it was difficult to withhold information from them.

"The elementalist footsoldiers should be able to take care of the Sheenvale threat without much trouble," Captain Frenik commented. 

"Provided we've seen all that Sheenvale has to throw against us, yes," Swamp muttered. 

Their conversation was interrupted by a page, "Master Enchanter," the boy babbled. 

"This had better be important," Swamp growled. 

"We've captured a dwarven soldier from the Sheenvale army," the page told him. 

"Very well," Swamp said hoarsely. "Have him brought here at once." 

"Yes, sir." The page ran off again. 

"This should be interesting," the Enchanter commented. "It's been some time since we've captured a Sheenvale soldier capable of giving us reliable information. Will you do the honors?" 

"Yes, sir," Evian nodded. 

The dwarf was brought in. He was wounded, but not fatally. This soldier had apparently received flames from the very edge of a fireball, as his right side was reddened but not really charred. 

"I won't tell you anything!" the dwarf said defiantly. "You can't make me talk!" 

"Don't worry, my dear dwarf, that won't be necessary," Swamp grinned fetidly. 

The dwarven soldier seemed quite confused until Evian Frenik gripped his hand firmly and subdued him from struggling before probing his mind. Swamp stood back and watched as his telepathic guard interrogated the prisoner. 

"This is most interesting," Frenik said quietly after a few moments. "Apparently there was a Changer named Amanda Kimdaughter in Sheenvale." 

"Amanda?" Swamp said with a bit of surprise. He hadn't considered that two of his cousins might have the power, since it was so rare. "Was?" 

"Yes, was. Apparently, she has escaped and disappeared into the wilderness." 

"Her, too?" Swamp mused. "Hmm. Anything else?" Frenik gave him a rundown of the Sheenvale forces. Swamp nodded slightly. "Excellent. It seems Amanda's power is more limited than Harmony's." 

"What shall I do with the prisoner?" 

"Brainwash him," the Enchanter ordered. "No sense in wasting a usable soldier." 

"Yes, sir," Frenik said as he got to work on carrying out that order. 

* * *

Later that day, after Swamp had relayed the information retrieved from the prisoner to King Megrez, Swamp rounded up Captain Frenik and a couple other telepaths for a mission. 

"I think it's time we find out where Harmony and Amanda are hiding out, and just what they're up to," Swamp told them. "You are coming with me." 

The soldiers nodded. They did not question why the Master Enchanter was going on this mission himself, figuring that it was of such danger and importance that only the elite of Jaston would stand a chance of success, and gathered up their gear to head out. 

"They're hiding amongst the wild men of the mountains, most likely," Evian Frenik postulated as they left the city. "Those miles of open wilderness lie still uncharted and unpenetrated by even our best scouts." 

"Then that is where we shall search," Swamp decided. "Lead the way, Captain." 

Swamp took up a position behind the telepath, the other two walking a bit behind him and watching his sides and back. Cautiously, they marched through the little-trod paths of the wilds of Albrynnia, alert for attacks by wild animals or wild men. Little did they expect that they'd be attacked by wild men who were part animal. 

They tried to catch Swamp and the telepaths by surprise, jumping out of the brush to grapple with them in the form of clawed catfolk and fanged wolfmen. Little did they realize that touching these telepaths was a fatal mistake. The guards received some minor cuts and bruises, but managed to subdue the animal folk without much trouble. 

"The Changer is in the Keep of Stone Rain," Evian told Swamp after a brief probing. "It's off in the mountains to the south." 

Swamp nodded in acknowledgement. "Have them be our guards and guides." 

Evian nodded, and set about to forcing the wild folk to work for them. Their animalistic minds proved none too difficult to control, and they were quickly on their way again, heading directly toward Stone Rain Keep this time. Little other resistance met them on their way there, as apparently, the other wild folk in the vicinity assumed that anyone travelling with their kinsmen must be on their side, even if they were dressed in the uniforms of Jaston. They had never before seen telepaths or experienced their powers, so did not consider for a moment that their kinsfolk were being controlled in some manner. 

And so they arrived at Stone Rain Keep. They met with a rather confused greeting, and Swamp knew that his telepaths could not hope to control everyone here very easily, so he hoped that they'd be reasonable, even though they weren't civilized people. 

"Greetings, people of the Keep of Stone Rain," Swamp intoned loudly. "I am Swamp Kimson, the Master Enchanter. I have come in search of my cousins, Harmony Kimchild and Amanda Kimdaughter." 

Erin peered over to Swamp nervously, and saw the telepaths. She hissed in warning to Harmony and Amanda, "Don't let the ones with white eyes touch you." 

Harmony didn't ask for an explanation, and just murmured, "Understood." 

"We welcome the cousin of the mighty Changers, Harmony and Amanda, to our humble keep," Vridik Steelblade told Swamp. 

"Excellent," Swamp said. "Now, where are my cousins? I wish to speak to them." 

The wild men obligingly pointed Swamp over to where the two Changers and the Seeker were sitting. The Enchanter gave a wide, putrid grin, and meandered over toward them, his three telepaths remaining close to him. Erin tensed up as he approached, knowing that he could not still recognize her due to her change. 

"Swamp, what do you want?" Harmony said fiercely, standing up as they approached so that she could more easily get out of the way of the white-eyed men. 

"Oh, I just came looking for you. You have no idea how much I've missed you," Swamp gave a feral smile.


	18. An Uneasy Agreement

There was a tense silence as Harmony and Swamp glared at one another. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a voice out of the crowd.

"Swamp, you aren't going to be controlling her, me, or anyone else again." It was Tembre Serra. He stepped out of the crowd and boldly approached Harmony, standing beside her to face off the Enchanter. 

Swamp turned his eyes to glare at him for half a moment before snarling, "You are traitors, all of you. What regard for loyalty to your city-state do you hold?" 

Harmony snorted. "Swamp, you know perfectly well you are no more loyal to Jaston than you would be to anyone you hoped to use to further your own filthy goals." 

"What do _you_ know of my goals, little cousin?" Swamp growled. 

The wild folk around them shifted uncomfortably, nervously. This wasn't their business and it wasn't their fight, and they stood little chance of fighting against mages of this caliber. So they watched, waiting to see what would come of it. 

"I know well enough you aren't helping Jaston out of any sense of loyalty," Harmony retorted. 

Evian Frenik shifted at this suggestion. When push came to shove, was his loyalty to his city-state, Jaston, or to the individual that was Swamp? It wasn't a question he was prepared to answer right now. Until proven otherwise, he'd assume that Swamp was acting in Jaston's best interests, and that Harmony was spouting dissent, and would stand by the Enchanter. 

"Speak not of what you do not understand, little cousin," Swamp murmured. 

Harmony gave a dangerous grin. "Perhaps, then, you should enlighten me." 

"Power and loyalty is sufficient," muttered the Enchanter. "It's neither the time nor place to explain things to you, child." 

"What business have we in these petty wars?" Harmony demanded. "They are not our fight. And because of our interference, they'll be bloodier than they'd ever have been before." 

"Then what do you think you're doing here?" Swamp glanced around at the animal folk. "You've turned the wild men into some sort of zoo. Although I must say it's a bit of an improvement." 

Some of the wild folk snarled at this remark, but most actually believed that it was an improvement, in spite of the implied insult, anyway. 

"I'm here to change the world," Harmony replied stoicly. "To create new and wonderful things for their own sake." 

"What makes you think my goals are any different?" Swamp tested her. 

Harmony had no real answer to that. "You create things for your own advancement, Swamp." 

"Is it so wrong to be concerned of my own protection?" he grinned at her. "And why, praytell, could you not create things for their own sake in Jaston?" 

"Because I don't _like_ Jaston," Harmony told him sharply. "Nor do I particularly like being controlled." 

"Control," Swamp snorted. "It's all irrelevant. And unnecessary. Imagine, for one moment, what we could accomplish with our powers combined. You seek to create new and wonderful things, and yet without Amanda, a piece was missing. And without me, another piece of missing. Our powers alone were each but a fragment of the full power to create and change anything. Consider." 

Harmony considered that for a long moment. The experiments between her and Amanda were growing more successful, and they imagined that just about anything could be created from them. But it was true, there was still something missing. The third power. Enchantment. 

"Very well," Harmony finally said. "Very well. But not in Jaston. Nor here. It's too dangerous to experiment with such magic in heavily populated areas." 

Swamp blinked for a moment. She had actually agreed with him? He glanced at Erin. "Then, Seeker, find us a place where we may create without endangering others." 

Erin sighed softly. She wasn't too keen on helping Swamp, but nonetheless turned her power to scrying and searching for such a place. "There's... a continent to the north. But it's populated by a number of pale-skinned people. There's another one, larger one, further north of it." 

"Excellent," Swamp drawled. "We shall go there. To the northern continent. It shall be one great laboratory for our experiments." 

Harmony wasn't so certain about this. She rubbed the reddish key around her neck compulsively. "And how, cousin, do you propose we get there?" 

"Have you so little faith in me, little Changer?" Swamp grinned putridly. He turned on his heel and went abruptly into the corridors of the keep. A bit confused, the others followed him uneasily. 

"What are you doing, Swamp? Where are you going?" Harmony wanted to know. 

"Patiance, my little cousin. You shall see." He came to a passage near the edge of the keep, consisting of an archway not far from a dead end. "This will suffice, I suppose." 

Evian cocked his head and looked at him in confusion. What was this man doing? He didn't understand any of this. Was he making Harmony and Amanda help him by turning the northern continent into some sort of experimental ground for the sake of Jaston? It had to be. 

Swamp raised his hands, and suddenly a ring of light erupted from them, then that ring bound itself to the stones of the archway with flashing beams of power. Erin stared in wonderment as she watched pure magic use. A shimmering light appeared within the archway, and it began to swirl slowly. First it spun red, then as it picked up speed it turned orange, then yellow, then white. 

"Let these stones possess the power of Motion, and provide passage from the Keep of Stone Rain unto the northern continent of the world of Lezaria," Swamp intoned. 

The light in the portal began to spin even faster, so that instead of opaque white it became clear, and a cavern on the other side became visible. Finally, when Swamp lowered his hands, the portal was completely clear and nothing betrayed its existance but a faint shimmer and tingle in the air. 

"This," Swamp turned and said to them, "is how we will get to the northern continent. Shall we go then, cousins, and begin this alliance of ours?" 

Harmony was growing increasingly uneasy about this. "You go first, Swamp." 

Swamp sighed in annoyance. "You still don't trust me, do you, my dear cousin." 

"Not in a million years." 

Swamp grumbled a bit, but stepped through the portal. He made no hint at betraying how much energy doing this had cost him, nor his uncertainty that the portal would probably degrade. It should last several years, at least, he figured. Harmony, upon seeing that he was apparently unharmed, stepped through after him, and behind her Amanda, Erin, Tembre, then Evian and the two telepath guards. 

Followed uneasily by the others, Swamp strode out of the cavern and into the mountains of a new land, an unnamed and uninhabited continent never seen by the eyes of humans or morves. They never for a moment considered that they were being watched, or that somebody might have been there first.


	19. Among the Cherry Trees

The mismatched group, none of them entirely trusting the others, wandered down out of the mountains and into a forest of the most enormous trees they had ever seen. They were nothing like the ones they had seen on Albrynnia. Rather, these trees had dark reddish bark, more the color of Harmony's strange key than anything seen in their homeland.

"And there's no sentient beings here," Swamp questioned Erin. 

"No, none," Erin insisted. "All I saw was plants and animals." 

"Animals can be intelligent, relatively speaking," Swamp muttered. 

"Well, I didn't see anything that _seemed_ intelligent or civilized," Erin grumbled irritably. 

The group settled down into a clearing beneath one of the massive trees. With a sigh and glad for the break from the confusion, Evian Frenik leaned back against the tree and thought to himself, "This is a strange place, but not unpleasant. These are lovely trees." 

"And you aren't an unattractive bipedal endotherm, yourself." 

Evian blinked for a moment, trying to determine the source of the voice in his mind. The only one he was touching was the tree, though. "Who are you?" 

"I am Verintine, the Tall Cherry." 

"Cherry? What?" Evian thought in confusion. 

"Cherry tree. That is what my kind are called." 

"Cherry... tree. I'm talking... to a tree?" 

"Do not sound so surprised. You are the first of your kind we have seen here in a long time, as well," the tree's gentle mental voice flowed through his mind. 

"You mean, others have been here before us?" Evian wondered. 

"Yes, but that was ages ago. And we had no real way to communicate with them. Your unique power, however, allows us to bridge that gap. We are most curious about your kind. What is it like to move around and never have a place to call your home?" 

Evian sighed. "This is crazy," he said aloud. "I'm sitting here in the middle of nowhere with three deranged mages, talking to a tree!" 

The others gave him a variety of odd looks. Verintine chuckled softly in his mind. Evian wasn't sure at all what to make of this situation. His military training hadn't exactly prepared him for conversations with gigantic, intelligent, trees. The other telepaths, testing his comment with a little confusion, each went over to different trees and touched them. 

"Hey," one of them said, "He's right!" 

"These trees _are_ intelligent," the other said. 

"See!" Evian cried. "I'm not crazy!" 

"This continent is covered by intelligent trees?" Harmony wondered. 

"No," one of the telepaths said. "Just this region, apparently." 

Swamp muttered, "So we can still do our experiments in another region." He didn't particularly care about hurting trees, intelligent or otherwise, but didn't figure most Albrynnians, and Harmony in particular, would be very keen on it or cooperative if he suggested that they do. 

"There have been others here before," Evian thought at his tree. "Who were they? What did they do?" 

"They were bipedal endotherms, much like yourself. They didn't stay long, and took from us a branch of wood. We recognize that branch now born by the spotted and winged endotherm over there. But we know you aren't the same ones." 

Evian glanced over at Harmony. "What, that key around her neck, you mean?" 

"Yes," Verintine told him. "It is made from cherry wood." 

"What are those markings on it? I've never seen anything like them before," Evian asked. 

"Tinean runes," the tree replied simply. 

"Tin--what? What's tinean?" 

"That is our language. It is an ancient tongue of power and magic. Our most closely guarded secret." 

Evian mulled over this for a moment. "If it's a secret, how did the humans who came here before us know it to inscribe it on that key?" 

"I do not know." 

"Alright, do you know what it _says_ , then?" 

Verintine paused for a moment. "They're Security runes. Runes of freedom and binding." 

Evian didn't even try to understand what the tree meant by this. "Wait. So you never taught anyone your language, because you couldn't communicate with them before. And yet here is an object made, written with runes of your language, that was made before we came here so that you could communicate with us. How is this possible?" 

"Time," Verintine replied without missing a beat. 

"What?" Evian asked, again not understanding the cryptic comment. 

"Clearly, we taught our language to someone in the future, and they then travelled back in time and gave her the key." 

" _What_?" 

"The principles of time travel are sound, although through entropy it may not be entirely feasable. Many worry about the potential of paradox in such an event, but we believe it to be highly unlikely." 

Evian removed his hand from the tree and used it to rub his head for a moment before resuming contact with the bark. "Okay, so, time travel. I get it." He didn't, but he wanted the damned tree to stop hurting his head with the technical babbling. "Tell me more about this Tinean." 

"Tinean is a language of power," Verintine told him. "Its words and its runes convey inherent magic which can be used through specific combinations of syllables and lines in order to produce magical enchantments and effects." 

The telepath couldn't help but get the feeling that the tree was speaking to him as if he were a child, in spite of the intense technicality of the thoughts. "So it lets you do magic." 

"Not exactly," the tree replied. 

"What, then?" 

"It assists in performing magic. It makes difficult tasks much easier. You still would not be able to do something you were completely incapable of doing before. But it would allow much more powerful and permanent effects." 

Evian nodded mentally. "I think I understand." 

"I am, however, willing to teach this language to you, that you may spread that knowledge to others, that our legacy not die along with us." 

"What?" Evian blinked in confusion. 

"We are few, and we do not thrive. It takes thousands of years for a cherry to grow old and large enough to develop true sentience. And with the spread of your kind, we fear that our years are numbered and our time grows short. Therefore, that our legacy and our power not die, we wish it to continue in you." 

"But--But," the telepath sputtered mentally. "We can make sure you're protected. We won't do anything to harm you, my people revere trees." 

"It isn't enough, I'm afraid. And if something happened beyond your control, it would then be too late, and our knowledge would be forever dead." 

Evian sighed. "Alright. If you insist. How long will it take to learn?" 

"Not long," the tree assured him. Suddenly he felt his mind open, and a rush of knowledge poured into it. He blinked for a moment, and realized that in the space of seconds, he had just gained full knowledge of the Tinean language. 

"Wow," he breathed. 

Swamp looked over at him oddly, and he realized he'd said that aloud. "Report." 

Evian took his hands off the tree and rubbed his forehead. That was a truly strange sensation. "The tree just... gave me this language." 

The Enchanter went over to him and extended his hand. "Show me." 

Evian took the man's hand. He didn't for a moment consider using this opening to take control of his superior, particularly as filled with wonderment at Tinean as he was. Tentatively, he showed Swamp the vast information he had just acquired on the magical language. 

"That's incredible," Swamp said, gleaning what he could from what he saw. "There's too much here to look over in any length of time. Can you do the same to me, transfer it?" 

"I think so," Evian said slowly, attempting to do the same as the tree had done to him, and imparted the knowledge of Tinean into Swamp's mind. "Did that work?" 

Swamp released his hand and looked off for a moment. "Yes, I believe it did. Excellent. Most intriguing. A magical language of power... The things that could be done with it." 

Evian brushed his fingers against Verintine again, and thought, "Thank you." 

Not long after that, the group quietly curled up to sleep, Erin paranoidly remaining on watch, more out of not trusting the telepaths than anything else. But neither Swamp nor his telepathic guards caused them any grief, this night at least. 

* * *

The next day, the group moved off to the east past the mountains. They still didn't particularly trust one another, nor did any of them really know why they were working together at all, but most of them were arrogant and confident enough in their own abilities to think they could take the others if something happened. Except Erin, who was perpetually paranoid, but thought she'd at least sense it if somebody was trying something.


End file.
